


Belladonna

by Multi_Fandom_Shipping_Trash



Category: Assassination Classroom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers Family, BAMF Shiota Nagisa, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Childhood Trauma, Class 3-E as Family, Cussing, Domestic Avengers, Don't post anywhere else without my permission, F/M, Gen, Hiromi Shiota is a bitch, How Do I Tag, How's that not a tag??, I finally got the plot going but it took like 10 chapters, I guess???, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Karma is protective of Nagisa, Lowkey possessive, Minor Character Death, Misgendering, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Outsider, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, Precious Shiota Nagisa, Protectiveness, Slow Build, Smol Nagisa, T for Trauma, Tags May Change, Team as Family, no beta we die like idiots, past bullying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2020-10-03 23:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 46,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20461286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multi_Fandom_Shipping_Trash/pseuds/Multi_Fandom_Shipping_Trash
Summary: Belladonna:Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the nightshade family Solanaceae. In Italian Belladonna means "beautiful woman" and Atropa is Greek for "without a way forward". It causes hallucinations and delirium when ingested, though the effects often vary.Nagisa's favorite flower is the belladonna flower and one look into his past makes it obvious as to why.Or:The Avengers are not prepared to deal with this whole situation and that is becoming increasingly clear. Nagisa is not at all helpful.---This used to be called The Avengers Assassin but I decided to overhaul both the title and description, that's all.





	1. Chapter One- The Aftermath

Quick sidenote:

They are talking in Japanese (obviously) in this chapter, but I will signal talking in Japanese in future chapters  
Names: I use the first names of the teachers when it focuses on them being themselves/for personal situations; the students will still refer to them as '-sensei' when the fic focuses on them as teachers; last names are used for formal situations with other adults. Students will refer to eachother the way they did in the anime (meaning last names, except for a few select students, this is due to my being unable to remember their names)

Schedule: I'll try to update whenever I can, I made the mistake of making deadlines for this before and I failed almost every time, so I'm not doing that again

_**TRIGGER WARNINGS:**_ MENTIONED/PAST CHILD ABUSE, MISGENDERING AND CAR ACCIDENT. !!!!PANIC ATTACK!!!! (let me know if I'm missing anything!)

* * *

* * *

* * *

The morning just a few days after Class E's graduation, all remaining members met up at the old school building. Just the sight of it brought up so many bittersweet memories the assassins in the middle school class.

This building witnessed so many failed attempts on Koro-sensei's life, but it was also the place where the decisive blow was dealt after the gruesome battle just a few days before the deadline proposed by the World Security Council.

The hike up the mountain barely even phases Nagisa anymore, even with the added weight of his bag. The training they endured and thrived under significantly raised overall physical skills. The class had decided to spend the weekend at their home away from home. In some cases- for some students- the classroom is- was- their only safehaven.

The bluenette watches his breath condense in the unusually cold weather. The Earth is still being affected by the moon's explosion, so the weather is often unpredictable; cold temperatures in March are just one of the many side effects.

When he got to his destination he saw that the remaining two teachers, now a couple, are supervising the students that have already arrived. Nagisa quickly walks over to his best female friend, Kayano.

Despite the reveal of her birth name, she insisted they called her Kaede Kayano; she said she wanted a new beginning and what better start to a new life than with what Class E already gifted to her?

After a short while all classmates have made the trip up the treacherous mountain and now everyone was gathered in the old, worn down classroom. The last time they entered this room was after the deed was done. Traces of that terrible night can still be seen, even though Karasuma-sensei had some of his underlings clear out the room and deliver the personal items to their owners.

On the teachers pult laid a small stack of paperwork. Every page was crisp and new, not a single wrinkle or tear on any of them.

Karasuma-sensei walks behind the pult and took a slightly deeper breath than usual. His usual blank, neutral mask has hair thin cracks, everyone could see the emotional turmoil that's warring inside the normally composed government agent.

No one mentioned it however, as there is nothing normal about this situation and they are all going through the same mental battle. Despite knowing this would eventually happen- despite being trained for this exact scenario- no one was prepared. Not even the stoice, professional, 'emotionless' Tadaomi Karasuma.

"You have all succeeded in your mission given to you by the UN. You've been given your promised reward of 30 billion yen as a class. You've decided to each keep 1 billion, with Ritsu forfeiting her's, and have decided on spending the remaining 3 billion to buy this mountain and this school building, the rest will be donated to the 'Wakaba Park Nursery School' (*1). Every one of you need to sign these papers to officially make this your private property."

While the voice seemed even, there were a few barely noticeable differences as well as cracks- Karasuma-sensei spoke a little slower, a little quieter. For all the distance he put between his target and himself, the yellow octopus wormed his way through Karasuma's thick walls.

_**How annoying**_.

Irina Jelavić feels a lump forming in her throat. She swallows thickly, cursing her stupidity and weakness.

She _knew_ better than to get closed to her target, she's been trained to stay detached and she's never failed at being indifferent.

But how could she not feel grief when one of her colleagues- one of her closest friends--died? Koro-sensei helped her connect with her real feelings and helped her rediscover her true self, a person she thought disappeared after the Yugoslav War (*2) in her home country tore her family apart.

He helped her form close, healthy and stable bonds with everyone in the Assassination Classroom. She finally became someone other than Thorned Rose (*3), someone other than one of the best honeypot killers.

**_I guess_** _**I don't have much competition anymore- I'm in first place now that my biggest rival retired to be an Avenger.**_

* * *

The atmosphere of the room is uncomfortable. No one wants to break the tense silence that settled in after the students signed their names. The only noise being made is from cleaning the building and very faint, barely audible breathing.

Even though they, officially, are no longer assassins they keep their steps and movements silent. Much of their training has been ingrained into their very being. They doubt they'll ever forget anything their teachers taught them.

Okajima finds a small handful of BB pellets in a corner, left forgotten and gone unnoticed. "Heh, remember how we had to sweep up BB pellets the whole school day when Ritsu first joined?" The sudden question startles his classmates out of cleaning. They glance uncertainly at one another, even Karma's cockiness is subdued.

"Yeah, she went off every twenty minutes or so, didn't she?" Rio quietly pipes up.

The teens slowly relax and instead of working in silence they share funny moments that they experienced together as a class or separately in small groups, teasing one another.

Even Itona, the last to join their class-turned-family, adds his two cents every now and then. The atmosphere lightens. The happy aura returns to radiate from the premises again, subconsciously cheering up anyone that enters the grounds.

Two hours before the lunch break the students with the most culinary skill, _read Hara, Isogai and Muramatsu_, left with a handful of the class' strongest physically.

They went to buy groceries for lunch, dinner and for breakfast and lunch the next day. They planned to stay as long as they could, but most of them have to return in the evening of Sunday at the latest, so they agreed to end the sleepover at 2 pm.

Whoever is allowed to stay longer can linger and mingle with others, while those that need to head home leave.

By the time Class E- even if they've graduated, they'll _always_ be the End Class- took a break for lunch, their classroom and the teachers lounge were cleaned. The lounge took the longest, if only because of the emotional drain it had on the students and the teacher couple.

Koro-sensei's pult was especially hard to clean out, every single centimeter of it _screamed_ of Koro-sensei.

The tentacle menace- for they could never call him a monster, not after everything he's done for them- put stickers of everything he and his students enjoyed on his pult. Pictures of everyone flooded one of the drawers, pages filled with notes of each student and of both teachers were crammed in another. The notes were things- problems, improvements- he observed of them. The pictures were in disarray, all of them 'not-so-flattering'; it was obvious they didn't make the cut for the class album, but Koro-sensei still couldn't throw away pictures of his precious students and respected colleagues- because he _did _respect Karasuma and Jelavic, for different reasons. The notes were used for the advice book he made them; he showed his love by customising an entire section for every assassin, tailored to suit their needs.

Quite a few tears were shed and a good chunk quit, one of them being Bitch-sensei.

Her work as an assassin robbed her of her childhood and thus she never learned what other kids did through gradual exposure- no, she learned how to survive in the wilderness, how to seduce men with frozen hearts, how to kill a human three times her size and how to lock her emotions away.

This year taught her that you can't bottle things up, eventually it'll spill over. She's still learning how to cope instead of locking it away, making her easily emotional. It's gotten a _lot_ better but she's never had to deal with grieve before- the deaths of her parents were buried so deep in her subconscious that it'll take years before she can start the healing process.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the school grounds: the rest of the school building, the shed, the field and so on. Hara, Isogai and Muramatsu cooked for the class again, this time serving Fried Rice and Yaki Udon, with some Stir Fry Vegetables as a side dish.

As they sit outside looking at the stars that are starting to appear, Karasuma-sensei stands up and clears his throat, catching the attention of the entire End Class immediately.

"The Ministry of Defense has decided that you may keep all Anti-Sensei weapons as well as every equipment piece you received, like your gym uniform. They will not, however, be making any more."

The teenagers look at each other surprised, but their faces show genuine joy for perhaps the first time since That Night. They quickly finish their food, all the while having Ritsu write down what equipment they are now in possession of. They agreed to finish up eating dinner before discussing everyone's share.

* * *

It took a couple of minutes to clean their dishes, but finally the teachers and their students met up in front of the shed, the place all their equipment is stored. The teachers take a step back, knowing this was something their students (<strike>their kids</strike>) had to settle amongst themselves.

"According to Ritsu, there are enough knives for everyone to have three with spares on the side. There are two handguns and two buckets full of Antisensei BB pellets for each student. Of course, everyone keeps their gym uniforms. Now, onto the equipment we'll need to divide. There are ten automatic machine guns that we will have to split up as well as three snipers. We also have three explosion kits, one camouflage kit and one state-of-the-art poison lab kit. Any suggestions on who gets what?" Kataoka takes control for this meeting, something Isogai had no problems with. The two class presidents have worked out how to share the responsibility of leading a large squad of professionally trained assassins, one of which is taking turns heading meetings and discussions.

"Well, I think Okuda should take the lab kit. She's our chemistry witch after all." Kurahashi proposes.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Takebayashi should definitely have an explosion kit, he's the one who took over that department." Yada's suggestion is followed by an unanimous agreement.

"Itona and Yoshida should take the other two." Hazama simply states, no further explanation given as it seems quite obvious to her.

"What? Why me?" Yoshida is a bit startled by the sudden statement. He didn't think he'd ever be considered for one of the explosion kits; he's sort of reckless and immature- giving him access to explosions just seems like a bad idea.

"_Because _you and Itona are good at the engineering and mechanical stuff. You'd figure out how explosives work faster than the rest of us, especially with Takebayashi as your tutor." She explains with an eye roll.

"She's right, it makes the most sense. The snipers should definitely go to Hayami and Chiba. The third can stay here in case of an emergency." Even though he's more known for his extreme and usually unnecessary violence, Karma is a very rational thinker, and so his classmates normally listened to his advice. Karma may be bloodthirsty, but he's also a tactian, these two traits combined are what makes him so dangerous. "Are you alright with taking them home?"

The question shows just how close Karma has gotten to his fellow classmates. At the beginning he'd just force the two to take the snipers, but ever since he's begun trusting the class he's shown more of his caring side.

The two looked at each other, having a full blown debate in that short glance, and then give a decisive nod to the redhead.

"Should we keep the machine guns here, too? They'd be kinda hard to hide in our room and we've always kept them here anyway." Sugino points out.

"We can do that, the mountain is ours now, after all. The only thing left to assign is the camouflage kit." Isogai takes over for a short bit as Kataoka is currently helping Ritsu with cataloguing the new ownerships.

"Isn't it obvious? Sugaya takes the camouflage kit. He's our class artist and kind of already taken over camouflaging and disguising us." Kayano states, matter-of-fact. "And he's really good at it, too."

Sugaya flushes a little and scratches his neck in a nervous manner. "Are you sure? Those paints are really expensive and professional. Art is just a hobby for me."

"Dude, you're a pretty cool artist, you know your stuff. Stop doubting yourself, idiot." Terasaka grumbles. He's softened a lot over the year. Despite his gruff appearances and rough attitude, he's a great friend- it just takes a while for him to consider you one.

"Yeah! Remember those cool tattoos you gave us?"

"Or that time you saved our asses by camouflaging us?"

The compliments and reassurances nearly overwhelm the poor teen. He quickly waves off any concern they have for a low self-esteem; he promises he was just surprised he got such valuable and expensive art surplies. The others still scrutinise him, but calm down when they spotted no lie.

* * *

That night everybody slept together in the empty classroom, the only one other than _their _classroom. They didn't want to dirty it after they spent so long cleaning it, or at least that's the excuse.

The real reason is that they fear they'll have nightmares if surrounded by memories- or worse, they'd have a dream so good, a dream with Koro-sensei loving them like his own (<strike>and breathingwarmlaughingalivealive_alive_</strike>) that they would be heartbroken all over again.

They'd only cry, and they've already used up all their tears.

They stacked the desks along the back wall, the one opposite the chalkboard. They spread their sleeping bag in the middle, as close to one another as possible. Thankfully it's still spring and therefore not too hot for a cuddle pile.

* * *

The sun shines through the windows, the beams of warm light tickling those unfortunate enough to be in their way. Faces scrounge up and grumbles verbalise their discomfort, yet the eyes stay closed stubbornly. The teens being attacked by the sun start to turn away, but they were stopped by the bodies of friends-turned-family.

Irina quietly let out a laugh, amused by the reaction. She compares it to grumpy, sleepy little kittens being annoyed at whatever disturbed their sleep.

Tadaomi stood next to her, an unusual small smile and rarely shown fond eyes replacing his typically neutral expression. Irina marveled at the vulnerability Tadaomi is entrusting her with, afterall, Tadaomi is a very guarded person with a handful of trust issues. For him to feel comfortable showing his soft side showed her how much he trusts her.

Irina pushes herself off of the wall, giving a small sigh. As great as the display of trust was, it was already 7:30 am and she is starting to get hungry. The coffee she made didn't do much to sate her hunger.

"WAKE UP, YOU BRATS!" Her shouting did it's job and awoke the teens. There was a flurry of movement as they startle, accidentally hitting or kicking eachother as they flail. Shouts of "Ow" and a few angry "WATCH IT" sound from the big pile of teenage assassins.

* * *

This time, Hara and Isogai were the only ones to cook, since Muramatsu was nursing a blackeye.

Poor guy was kicked in the face by his friend Yoshida. The future engineer apologised, but found it hard to speak through his laughter. The shocked screech the blond let out after getting kicked caused a lot of giggles and amused snorts.

After they ate and cleaned up, the assassins warmed up and then went a few rounds around the mountain, playing different games.

They did not survive the torture that was PE, only for it to all go to waste. They planned to exercise regularly so as to not lose the physical progress they had made.

Ritsu blew the whistle around 11 am so they could shower off and change back before lunch.

As they sit in the empty classroom Karasuma-sensei got a call.

He glances at his phone screen and is confused to see the number of one of his 'underlings'- he preferred the word subordinates, personally.

He distinctively remembers telling them _not _to bother him during the weekend, no matter how dire the situation may seem. He steps out of the room to answer the call as the one to call was his more serious female subordinate, the one he's considering mentoring as an agent. He knows she wouldn't have called him unless it truly was serious. 

The Class E students share a slightly confused, but resigned look, assuming Karasuma-sensei was being called in for work. Bitch-sensei sighs, **_this is why I didn't date before that damned octoperv set us up. That man is always too busy to just sit down and relax for one goddamn second! They can survive one day without you, Tadaomi! You promised the kids you'd stay here during the whole sleepover, there's still a few hours left._**

* * *

When Karasuma-sensei returns, he looks troubled.

Now, Nagisa _tries_ not to read his peers or teachers because he feels like it is an invasion of privacy, but Karasuma-sensei rarely shows such a troubled expression. The few times he did, it didn't end well for the End Class. So he finds himself analysing the government agent's body language without consciously deciding to do so.

He does tries not to 'tap' into a person's brain wavelength, because the bluenett truly did see it as a last resort.

From what Nagisa could gleam, the man is feeling conflicted. His shoulders are tense, indicating stress. His eyes are slightly pinched, a sign of frustration. His hands are a little curled, a nervous tick of the agent's. His expression in general just gives off a faint feeling of trepidation.

"Nagisa, my agent called concerning you. Would you like to go outside alone to discuss it?" The short 15 year old shakes his head, suddenly anxious. The way Karasuma-sensei said this- his posture, his tone of voice- makes him nervous. Nagisa has the feeling he won't like whatever news Karasuma-sensei has for him.

The ravenet gives a sharp nod, "At 7:57 am Hiromi Shiota was involved in an car accident. She collided with a ghost driver, who died on impact. Shiota-san later died in the hospital at 11:34 am."

The world drops out from under him. Nagisa's heart stops and he couldn't breathe. 

Despite the abuse he suffered from her, he still loved her and he knew she loved him too, in her own screwed up way. Some days, when she was in a good mood, her loving personality shone through like the sun breaking through the clouds after a storm.

Of course, Nagisa rationally knew the way she treated him was wrong, but emotionally she was still his Mother.

Nagisa zoned out, completely overwhelmed- first Koro-sensei's death (<strike>murder by his hands</strike>) and now he's being told about his mother's death in the place his former teacher took his last breath? Its no surprise he began hyperventilating.

  
"Nagi... ju... athe.." (Nagisa, just breathe...)

The words sound far away or like they are being said underwater. The teen startles as a hand touches his back; with the panic attack pushing all rational thoughts away he reacts instinctively instead. He curls up and braces himself.

_**Mother's never been happy about my panic attacks.**_

The hand is gentle, however.

It takes longer to claw his way back to sanity without the sharp pain or the dull ache his Mother would inflicted on him when she found him like this. At the same time, it is easier, almost calmer.

He likes the feeling of the hand rubbing circles on his lightly scarred back.

Finally, he sees light at the end of the tunnel. He slowly comes back only to find himself crouched on the floor with Sugino next to him, anchoring him to reality with his hand and his classmates all huddled close to him but giving him enough space to breathe.

Nagisa vaguely feels embarrassed about his extreme and dramatic reaction, but he is too drained to compose himself and he feels too safe in the middle of an elite squad of trained assassins to pull away.

Instead, he turns his head and burrows it in Sugino's neck. His love (*4) for the boy increases even more when the baseball fan doesn't hesitate to wrap him up in a hug.

Nagisa leans into the embrace, a few tears soaking the 'Tokyo Yomiuri Giants' (*5) T-shirt the other teen is wearing.

Karma grits his teeth, frustrated. He is mad he couldn't help his best friend. He isn't good with emotions however- his own neglect meant he didn't learn much about feelings--so he knows he would probably only make it worse.

Kayano bites her lip, worried. She doesn't have a good relationship with her parents either, as they moved away when she was little. She can not fully understand him because she has never had a panic attack before. She knows what to do, objectively, because Koro-sensei made certain to teach them, but it's different to see something like that actively happen to someone so very close her.

The two share a look before kneeling next to their blueberry. They join the hug, squeezing their best friend tightly. They know it probably won't help much, but they hope the action comforts him.

* * *

* * *

* * *

And that's the First Chapter! Thanks for reading!

*1: preschool name S2Ep6

*2: this is apparently the war that tore through Irina's homecountry

*3: my own codename for her since I couldnt find one (other than Black Widow, but that's already taken by Natasha, so...)

*4: for me it's platonic but you can read it as romantic

*5: I legit looked up "famous baseball team Japan", no offense to baseball fans meant


	2. Chapter Two- The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers will not be using Japanese surfixes (-san, - kun, etc). I will not write accents as I will most likely fuck up and I do not want to offend anyone.
> 
> I've used two names from two different animes, just as fun little easter eggs; they're not very difficult to find though

The World's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, are not what most people would expect.

The people think their saviours are strong ("Open the jar yourselves, Clint!" "But Nat, it's too tight!!"), smart ("What's 3×9 again?" "Aren't you supposed to be a genius?" "I haven't slept in 5 days") and, of course, reliable ("Shit, we gotta fly back, we forgot to pick up Bruce after he dehulked").

They'd be wrong. So, so wrong.

But, the people _are_ right about one thing. They're a team. No, they're a _family. _A highly dysfunctional, chaotic and crazy family, but one they all valued more than their lives.

At first, the team didn't get along well. With Tony's trust issues, Steve's inability to cope with waking up in the 21th century, Thor's inexperience with the Midgardian world, Clint's mindfuckery, Natasha's paranoia and Bruce's own Hulk-issue, it surprised absolutely no one when they started butting heads.

After the Battle of New York however, Tony got an official offer to become an Avenger, instead of being a Consultant. The billionaire also offered his Stark- now Avengers'- Tower as housing for all of his teammates. They accepted as none of them had any other place to return to, not really anyway.

Currently, all of the Avengers, now including Rhodey as Warmachine and Sam, a military vet, as Falcon, are gathered in the communal living area. Joining them are potential future members Scott as Ant-Man and Peter as Tony's Intern as well as Spider-Man.

At the moment Scott is being tested to see if he can work well with the superheroes, but Peter needs to wait until he's 18, so almost another three years to start his tests. (*1)

Bruce shivers as he feels intense eyes fall on him. **_How could I forget? _**

He glances over to the corner where the former Winter Soldier, James 'Bucky' Barnes stands, brooding.

After accepting the offer to become an Avenger, Tony had JARVIS comb through SHIELD's database and the AI discovered Hydra hiding within the complex code.

While they spent their time punching Nazis (<strike>a typical Thursday morning</strike>), Bucky was found and he decided it was best if he went into cryo sleep for a few months until (not evil) SHIELD or the superheroes found a way to erase his trigger words. He's now using BARF technology Tony created (<strike>for this and _other_ reasons</strike>) to come to terms with the shit HYDRA made the Winter Soldier do.

The team is hoping to integrate him into their family, but it's been a slow process.

Despite the chaos the living room has descended into, Bruce relaxes into his armchair by the fireplace. He doesn't have to worry about hulking out anymore, not after coming to an _'Agreement' _with his alter ego.

The living room was a weird mix of modern and classic. It excuded a sense of stylish indifference, but it was also obviously lived in. The dominant color scheme was black and white, an occasional splash of color here and there. But, the pillows always laid in disarray, blankets were hanging over the couches at all times, little knicknacks covered most open surfaces and there were pictures of art from fans hung up on the wall.

It is _perfect_.

Bruce has a small, soft smile on his face watching his family argue about what movie they should watch during the movie night. It seems Tony and Peter teamed up to go up against Scott and Clint, with Steve, Thor, Natasha and Sam staying neutral or fanning the fire (<strike>Natasha, Sam</strike>).

Normally, they have a routine on who gets to choose the movie; this night would've been Bucky's turn, but since he doesn't have a preference he's letting them decide.

Personally, Bruce thinks Bucky is being a little shit and that he enjoys watching the chaos he's caused. If someone ever asks the good doctor for evidence he'd point you toward the small smirk playing on the assassin's lips. It's enough evidence for _this_ theory, in his professional opinion.

The comfortable atmosphere is interrupted by Bruce's ringtone.

_ **That's strange, I never get calls from anyone other than the other team members, but everyone is here. ** _

He vaguely registers the sudden silence that floods the room through his shock and confusion.

He cautiously answers his phone. "Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Dr. Banner. My name is Tetsuya Kuroko, I'm with the Japanese child protective services." A mildly accented male voice comes from the phone's loudspeakers.

"Child protective services? If I may ask, why are you calling _me_?" The superheroes (and vigilante) may have been quiet since Bruce's phone rang, but now they are as still as statues. They're not moving- they're barely even breathing. All of them are staring at Bruce, eyes intense- every bit of their attention on the scientist.

The ones with advanced hearing try not to eavesdrop on any conversation that occur in the Tower, but with the silence as all-consuming as it is, they could hear the man's voice as clearly as if the man is personally yelling in their ears. They keep their silence, though.

"Are you aware your mother had a sister?"

"Yes, her name was Susan Drake (*2), before she married a Japenese business man and took his last name. They died when I was fourteen. May I ask why you are asking me this?"

"Are you also aware they had a daughter, one Hiromi Shiota?"

"No, is she the reason you are calling me?" A couple of suspicions start forming in the back of his mind, but he pushes them away. He knows a good scientist doesn't jump to conclusions- and if there is anything he prides himself on it's his genius and his 7 PhDs.

Some of his other (<strike>smarter and without super hearing</strike>) family members are starting to catch on, if their alarmed faces are anything to go by.

"Indirectly, yes. She died on Sunday, March 21st at 11:34 am after being involved in an car accident at 7:57 am. She left behind her only son Nagisa Shiota and as the only living relative on his mother's side, you have the ability to become his legal guardian. If you decide you do not want to take Nagisa Shiota in, he will be given to the state for custody." Despite the grave news Mr. Kuroko just delivered his voice keeps a bland tone.

The breath freezes in his lungs, his eyes widens and his skin pales. That is a lot of information to process all at once. He wets his suddenly dry lips, "W-What about his father? I'm the Hulk and live in the Avengers Tower, I hardly think that's an acceptable environment for a child."

"Nagisa's father Takeshi Yamamoto currently has no claim on Nagisa. He gave up all parental rights in the divorce, with the exception of visiting rights for two days a month. As Nagisa is already 15 years old, he has some say in who he wishes takes custody of him. He's decided he'd rather move to another country than to be in the system. And do the Avengers not claim they can save the world? If they cannot take care of one child then they cannot take care of our planet." Now a hint of mischief enters the previously indifferent tone of voice. He doesn't have a extremely high opinion on the superheroes; he doesn't hate them or anything- he's just more neutral than anything.

"I- Yes, I suppose that's true. May I have a few hours to discuss this situation with my team?"

"Of course, I'll send you the current official (*3) file on Nagisa Shiota."

"Thank you."

The scientist jumps as a hand touches his shoulder. He hasn't even realised how tense he became during the phone call. He looks up to see Sam, his eyes shining with a sympathetic light and his lips tilted up in a small comforting smile.

"Let's go to the meeting room," he gently pulls the doctor down the hallway and lightly pushes him down into his usual seat once they have reached the large wooden table.

"Bruce, would you like to explain to everyone here what happened? I think most of us already suspect what the topic of conversation was," Natasha softly asks.

When he looks at her he is reassured by the small, warm smile on her strangely open expression. She may have started to trust her team, but the training the Red Room put her through is not so easily forgotten. Her openness is still a fairly new thing.

"Y-Yes. Um, my aunt had a daughter who recently died in a car accident. She had a son, though, and his father can't be his legal gaurdian for some reason. The choice was the state system or coming here with me acting as his temporary gaurdian. Nagisa, my great cousin, is already 15 years old and he chose the latter option. The CPS agent is sending me a file and I need to call back in a few hours with my decision." He fumbles with his worlds, but saying it aloud helps Bruce sort his thoughts and it also helps him understand the gravity of the situation.

"We're Avengers, being connected to us is dangerous. Is it really a good idea to let him come over?" Steve argues; he doesn't want an innocent child being caught up in anything complicated and dangerous.

"We don't have to announce this to the entire world. Bruce in human form is still rather unknown, a small disguise later and no one will be the wiser. The Tower is big enough for another teen, so if Brucie-Bear wants to accept he can." Tony points out.

He knows Bruce would want to accept and have a living, breathing, blood-related family member living in close proximity to him. He has learned a lot about his Science Bro during late night experiments, afterall, and this legal affair would be nothing for a billionaire like him.

_**If this is what'll make Brucie happy, then we're taking in another stray. **_****(<strike>He'll do anything for his family</strike>)

During the debate the superhero team continues to have about the pros and cons of having a civilian stay with a high profile group, a certain brunet's phone beeps.

The good doctor glances at the screen and sees an email from an unknown person with an attachment. He opens it, ignoring the chaos of his team's argument, and opens the email. The email is a short, very formal letter signed off by the Japanese CPS with the promised file attached to it.

"JARVIS? Can you project this file?"

"Of course, sir." The screen in the wall at the front of the room lights up and eleven individual holoscreens pop into existence in front of the seats.

Peter and Bucky are the first to notice since they kept quiet during the conversation. Bucky because he doesn't really have an opinion and Peter because he doesn't feel like he has much of a say- he only lives part-time at the Tower, afterall.

"Guys. Guys! Mr. Kuroko sent me the file, we can make a more accurate decision once we've read it. Please?" Bruce is not above begging.

A part of him is still in shock from finding out he had living relatives, but another, bigger, part was jumping in joy at the prospect of living family living with him- nevermind the awkwardness of meeting someone for the first time.

He suspects Hulk is influencing that part. Ever since Bruce accepted the green giant as a part of himself, they've had a weird mental connection. They were aware what the other is currently doing and can influence their feelings somewhat, but the connection can also be blocked for privacy reasons.

The others settle down, the heated debate quickly dwindling down. They sit in their seats and look towards Bruce. Normally, they'd follow Steve's or Tony's lead depending on the situation, but since this is Bruce's family, they'd follow his instructions.

"Let's read the file and then we can decide, alright?" The others all gave their affirmation, heads slightly lowers to read the info on the holoscreen.

* * *

The impromptu meeting took about two hours, but in the end everyone gives in and the ones opposing concede.

Bruce calls the agent back and they discuss various things, alongside a few legal matters. Afterwards Bruce gives Kuroko the number of one of Tony's personal layers (<strike>the best money can buy</strike>) so the two of them can hash out a (legal) agreement.

* * *

Later, as Bruce lays in his bed, he finds himself staring at the ceiling. His mind spinning and turning as it tries to make sense of this new world- this new reality.

_His new reality. _

Bruce knows, logically, that having a _child _living with The Avengers will change things in the Tower. Many, many things. Not least of which were the security issues this would cause.

Being an Avenger- being associated with an Avenger- was dangerous and perhaps even _deadly. _For a child the risks of getting kidnapped and/or hurt rose immensely.

But Bruce can't bring himself to feel the amount of guilt or concern he _should_ be feeling. He is just too happy to know he has a living, breathing relative to really give the potential dangers much thought. Whenever he does wonder on the threats Hulk would grumble reassuringly in the back of his mind.

Despite his alter ego's reassurance, the scientist just couldn't shake off a niggling sense of doom.

He shakes his head and tells himself it's just the nerves. Nagisa is an innocent teenager with no connection to any of the villains they face weekly.

** _Everything's going to be fine. _ **

* * *

Nagisa heaves a sigh as he stares into his blue eyes reflecting from the mirror in the small airplane bathroom.

After hearing he was moving to another country- no, another _continent- _his classmates went into overprotective mode. The five or so days it took to handle the legal matters- Karasuma-sensei cashed in a few favors, plus Stark's influence- he spent at Karma's house.

Unsurprisingly, they had the house to themselves with the exception of a cleaning lady every two days. Even though his parents probably would never notice and thus didn't need to be informed, Karma still called them and told them his little blue snake was spending the week at the house- it's not his home, that was the Class 3-E classroom.

They were _ecstatic_. They knew their frequent traveling wasn't healthy for their son's growth but it came with their jobs, so to hear from their little red genius that his best friend was hanging out with him after months of radio silence liberated them from some of their ever-growing list of concerns regarding their son.

The past few days were devoted to spending time with classmates and intensive one-on-one tutoring sessions with his teachers. The days were used up mostly by Bitch-sensei to review their English classes of that year and to better his pronunciation. He _was _moving to an English speaking nation and the more he knew the better off he would be once he arrived.

Karasuma-sensei taught his small student a few more disarming techniques pertaining guns since the gun laws were much more lax in the US than they were in Japan, thus making the chances he'd encounter someone with a gun that much higher.

Not once was he alone, there was always at least one of the other assassins accompanying him everywhere.

And now, just a three quarter hour away from landing in the JFK airport, he's checking himself over, making sure all the weapons his class- his family- forced him to take on the flight are consealed. He currently has two Koro-sensei knives, one hard plastic 'toy' knife, an actual steel dagger, a handgun with both Anti-Sensei BB pellets and real bullets scattered along his body. He's lucky Ritsu hacked the scanners during security checks or he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

His innocent and trusting (<strike>weak</strike>) appearance coupled with his outfit efficiently hiding any bulges or odd creases his weapons may have otherwise made meant no one glanced at him twice. Hiding his blood lust and using the assumptions unconsciously made upon first seeing him against them comes naturally to the teen.

He just hopes his natural talent alongside his training will be enough to hide his past from the superheroes he's being sent to live with.

Koro-sensei's situation may no longer be confidential, but Ritsu made sure all personal information was kept from the media and even hacked the governments involved and erased _everything. _He _is_, however, the Assassination Classroom's secret and they will guard it with everything they have.

They will defend his honor to their dying breath, because he did the same for them.

* * *

* * *

* * *

And, here's chapter 2! Thanks for reading! Again, if you have any questions, just ask me!

*1: Pepper is in the UK for business, there will be _no _Pepper erasure in this fic

*2: she actually exists according to Wikipedia; I was looking up Bruce's mom Rebecca (R-Rebecca it's not what you think! _I won't hesitate, bitch_), but I doubt this is what happened to her. I just wanted to use her name

*3: hint, hint; nudge, nudge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue how laws work (especially not Japanese laws), so don't take anything pertaining it seriously.  
That being said, the reason why Bruce now has guardianship of Nagisa is because of the abuse accusation. His dad tried to win sole custody but lost as his Mom claimed domestic abuse to both her and Nagisa caused by her ex-husband, Yamamoto Takeshi. His dad now has to be tested to see if he's fit to take care of his child. This can take anywhere between six months to a full year. Bruce is Nagisa's only living relative on his mom's side. None of the family members on his dad's can have him because of the abuse Nagisa 'suffered from his father' in the eyes of the law (weird law that probably doesn't exist but does here for plot convenience).


	3. Chapter Three- The Arrival

Quick sidenote:

**"**Words" : Japanese

* * *

* * *

* * *

Three days after the call from CPS Bruce wakes up unusually early, after an uneasy sleep. He had woken up no less than four times in cold sweat. It took a while to fall back asleep each time, too.

As far as Bruce knows, sleep is supposed to give the person new strength, leaving them feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

But Bruce is _tired. _Exhausted, drained, spent and just plain _tired. He wants a refund. _

He spent the night working himself up about the teen coming to live with them, anxious about the risks and potential danger his relative- he still can't believe a biological family member was still _alive- _will be in the second he steps foot on American soil.

Simply put, he is _nervous_.

And everyone knows it, too.

As Bruce sits at the breakfast table in the common floor, the others share a worried look. They are currently eating the breakfast Sam cooked for them (*1) for the 'Special Occasion'.

Normally, they'd either eat breakfast on their own floors or just eat whatever foods they could find in the shared kitchen on floor 92, however as today is the day of Nagisa's arrival, they'd made an effort to come together and possibly give their Doc some comfort.

Steve clears his throat, making Peter- who stayed because it was the weekend and Aunt May works late on Saturdays and Sundays anyway- jump and hit his knee on the table.

Tony just tiredly rubs the bridge of his nose, while Scott and Clint snicker. The poor kid lowers his already blushing face, only to jump again as Thor thumps him on his back. The god of thunder sends a wink and smile to the 'Man of Spiders'. Said Spider-man only flushes darker at having his man crush witness such an embarrassing moment (<strike>that totally won't haunt him at 3 am in two years</strike>).

Tony lets out an exasperated sigh.

Steve stares into the eyes of the youngest person in the dining room with a deadpan expression for a few seconds before turning back to Bruce, who had evidently never stopped fiddling with his sleeves and staring at the oak table, oblivious to the world outside his thoughts.

'The Star Spangled Man with a Plan' bites his lip, not quite sure how to continue.

With a groan, Natasha provides the start to what would become a no doubt awkward and difficult conversation. "Bruce," only once she has his attention did she continue, "You're not going alone to pick up your cousin."

Bruce blinks, taken aback by the blunt statement.

Steve quickly continues before Bruce could do anything more than open his mouth- most likely to protest. "We don't mean you have to stay behind! You're just not going to go alone. You need to take one of us with you. We were discussing this last night after dinner. Alright?"

"Yeah, OK. Thanks, everyone. I guess I really _am _a bit nervous." The scientist feels his lips form a rueful smile.

* * *

Nagisa lets out a slightly shaky breath, the severity of what this means hitting him like a tonne of bricks. He feels the panic rise inside, a strange cold spreading across his chest. He quickly shakes himself before he gets a full blown panic attack.

_ **This really isn't the time or place for one.** _

He follows the flow of other passagers from gate 3 towards the luggage retrieval area. He quickly spots his suitcase; he struggles with lifting it, however.

After a few minutes of struggling with the heavy baggage, slowly being dragged along the conveyer belt, a stranger takes pity on him. A kind older woman picks it up with seeming ease, though Nagisa notices how her hands tremble just the slightest bit.

That's not really surprising considering what he packed, though.

Most of the space the suitcase offered was used up by assassination related things, like a couple simple traps/items like sturdy rope, his gym outfit, an extensive first aid kit, a _lot _of ammo and some such; there was also the Advice Book, as well as the Assassination Notes (*2). Of course, he had also packed a week's worth of clothes, but most of it was being shipped over along with some of his personal items.

Tony Stark had agreed to continue paying the rent for the apartment so the teen fortunately didn't have to pack _everything_.

Unfortunately for the assassin, his carry-on isn't much lighter. He has a few of his favorite comics, a change of clothes (<strike>you can never be too prepared</strike>), his electrical devices, a Class 3-E issued Swiss army knife, and a 'gift' from Bitch-sensei. She'd forbidden him from opening it until he's reached his new room, sadly.

It's a bit difficult to carry both his backpack as well as pull the heavy suitcase, but Nagisa makes his way to the main entrance fairly swiftly. As the escalator stairs take him to the 'meeting spot' he'd discussed with his cousin (uncle?) on the ground floor, he scans the crowd. He's looking for anything that might suggest his (<strike>Cousin? Uncle?</strike>) relative is in the sea of people.

** _There! _ **

By the pillar there is an older brunet man holding a sign with the snake's name. Nagisa makes his way through the crowd, slipping past people and easily dodging flailing limps or stray luggage.

* * *

The only thing that keeps Bruce from standing on his toes to better see over the heads of the humans swamping the airport are his dignity and pride. Despite this, he is still just a few seconds from saying 'Screw it' and doing it anyway.

Peter, the one chosen for the trip due to his anonymity in the eyes of the media and the fact he's around the same age as the teen they're here to pick up, eyes the other genius from the corner of his vision. He can practically _feel _the man's stress level rising with each second they spent waiting.

His tightly strung and also _very _twitchy aura is negatively impacting the intern; Peter has already had to consciously stop his hand from trembling.

This is entirely the fault of his heightened senses, they've made him incredibly sensitive to his surroundings.

_ **I'm just glad I brought my noise cancellation headphones. I'd definitely have had a sensory overload without them. ** _

So, keeping his senses in mind, one might understand why Peter jumps as high as he does (<strike>and the small shriek</strike>) when a blue haired teen pops up in front of both of them.

The only reason he immediately knows the androgynous teen is a boy is because of the picture Natasha gave him a hour before leaving to memorize.

He is wearing a long, baggy white pullover reaching to a little above her knees. His black leggings are tucked in black leather combat boots. Dark blue straps indicated he has a backpack on, and a small, pale hand clutches the handles of a black suitcase.

He stares at them with neutral, blue eyes, his gaze alternating between the sign, Dr. Banner and Peter himself as he slowly inches towards the Avenger, slightly intimated by this unassuming, small boy.

It doesn't make any logical sense for him to be wary of the other teen, he has superpowers!

But it was these exact powers that warn him of the apperent danger he poses. They have him tense and edging towards his teammate; it's the closest to a genuine instinctual reaction he's ever had- he's not counting the 'spidey urges' Peter sometimes would get. He can control the urges, this he _can not._

"Excuse me," his voice holds a distinct accent, one he'd heard on the phone all the times Mr. Kuroko called."Are you Bruce Banner?"

* * *

"-Bruce Banner?"

The air leaves his body in one almost violent breath, as he glances up and sees a very familiar face. He's seen that face in both the file and from the social media platforms Tony dug through.

It's Nagisa.

"Yes, I'm Bruce. You're Nagisa Shiota, correct?" His voice wavers a little and he hopes no one notices. 

"Yes, I am. Thank you for agreeing to take me in," the blue haired teen bows at his waist, and the man panicks for a split second before remembering the traditional, polite ways of Japan. He had researched the country's culture after the Call; he doesn't want to offend his only living relative, after all (<strike>especially not one who's still unafraid of him</strike>).

* * *

The silence that prevails in the car is stilted and uncomfortable.

As Happy drives them back to the Tower Peter sat in the passager's seat, something Happy grimaced at. He doesn't hate the kid, but he can be a real chatterbox.

Of course, Bruce sat in the back with Nagisa next to him.

As the driver glances up into the mirror, he can practically _see _the tension rising in the physical distance between the two males sitting there. The bluenet sat behind Peter, his head turned to the window and watching the city pass by and headphones in his ears, occasionally typing on his phone. Bruce is pretending not to glance at the teen every few seconds, as if reassuring himself he is really there. Nagisa obviously notices the eyes on him, judging by the slightly hunched shoulders.

With a small sigh, Happy realises he's going to be the one who will have to break the silence.

** _I'm not being paid enough for this shit._ **

"Nagisa, was it?" It's a question that doesn't need an answer as the teen had very politely introduced himself earlier when they had first reached the car.

The volume of whatever he is listening to mustn't have been very high as the boy jumps and immediately answers on reflex, "Yes."

Unfortunately, the word was in Japanese. He only realises when the others give him confused looks. He flushes and quickly corrects himself.

"Well, Nagisa. You'll be living with the Avengers and there are a few things you should know before hand. As Head of Security, it's normally my duty to debrief you on safety procedures. But Boss told me to just summarise them into a packet; the papers will be on the bed in your room." Most of his focus is on the road, but he still sees the grateful smile that the boy flashed in his direction.

He can already feel a bud of respect and-damit- _affection_ somewhere in his heart belonging to the teen in the backseat.

Thankfully, he's successful at breaking the silence and he gives himself a mental pat on his back as he hears Bruce speak up.

"There are a few other things too. This isn't anything public, so please don't tell the media about it. But the Avengers aren't as 'stable' as everyone thinks. We all got our issues and we all have our own... triggers, I guess you could say. We all have a therapist we see whenever we can and we're better now, but we still have our moments." It's hard to admit this, but it had to be said. He doesn't want to admit to this child the 'Heroes of the World' were broken, but it was important he knows. So, he turns to the stunned boy and gives a slightly shaky small, his eyes betraying the understatement. "It's best you leave the room if one of us gets triggered, JARVIS will let one of us know. Don't try to help us, we can get pretty dangerous when we panic," his smile turns bitter.

The two in the front tense up, Peter more so than the other man. Despite his age he's already got quite the bit of baggage.

Surprisingly, Nagisa gives a small smile, his eyes understanding- and that is a bit troubling, but maybe it is because of the death of his mother? (<strike>He ignores the small whisper that says that level of understanding requires more trauma</strike>)

"What should I call you?" Instead of asking uncomfortable questions, the teen changes the topic. The scientist relaxes, he never even knew he tensed. He lets out a startled laugh.

"You can just call me by my name or Uncle." They share a grin. Even Happy bites back a smile.

This is barely the beginning of a long, turbulent adventure, but at the moment, just for this small moment, everything is fine.

Everything is good.

But that would change, and soon. 

* * *

* * *

* * *

And here's chapter 3! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, thoughts on ships?
> 
> *1: typical North American Breakfast  
*2: all assassination related lessons were written down by Koro-sensei


	4. Chapter Four- The Tour

"We're here," The announcement is completely unnecessary, but Happy isn't quite sure what else to say. "The Avengers' Tower, your temporary- or permanent- home."

Nagisa's eyes are wider than usual; even though they're only in the garage, it was already impressive. The garage had a high ceiling, the lights brightened the large garage, the support beams were all unnecessarily but prettily decorated, and both the walls and the floor were very clean- not a single piece of gum stuck to the smooth dark concrete.

Nothing like public parking spaces.

There are a lot of cars parked inside, but the spot they are currently in is sectioned off. "Mr. Stark allows the employees working in the Tower to park in here, but the section we're in now is his private parking space." Peter, Mr. Stark's personal intern, speaks up from behind the blue haired assassin.

Even though the small teenager knew the other was behind him, he still jumps a little. He hadn't expected him to talk to him. The brunet gives him a small apologetic smile, Nagisa waves it off with his own smile though, only his was much more sheepish.

The two teens turn on their heels when they hear a loud grunt. Happy had tried to pick up the trunk, but he hadn't expected the weight of it. Peter had been the one to help Nagisa put his suitcase in the trunk at the airport, so the man had no warning.

Peter quickly rushes over, Nagisa following closely. The secret vigilante helps the man pull the suitcase out of the trunk, the piece of luggage is placed on the floor with an audible _thump_.

Peter idly wonders _what_ exactly the other teen had packed for the bag to be _this_ heavy. He doesn't comment on it though, his Aunt May taught him better than that.

Happy clears his throat, a bit embarrassed he couldn't get a _suitcase_ out of the trunk. He may not be the fittest person in the Tower, but he still regularly excersised and he even went boxing at least once a month, depending on his job schedule.

"I can give you a tour if you'd like. I know the Tower can be pretty big and confusing; I honestly wouldn't have known how to navigate it if Tony hadn't given me tour." Bruce thought this would be a good opportunity to get to know his nephew, something he definitely wants to do.

"I don't want to trouble you," Nagisa wants to agree- he didn't have the greatest sense of direction- but his Mother raised him to be polite and to never bother anyone. This resulted in him being afraid to ask anyone for help; Class 3-E tried desperately to ease this fear and they succeeded, but only a little (<strike>Class E _hated_ Hiromi. If she hadn't died, they would've killed her themselves</strike>).

"Don't worry, I'm not a very busy person and I don't have anything planned for today. There are some rules we have to go over, too." Bruce reassures him.

"Alright. Thank you very much!"

\---

"The Tower is one of the headquarters of Stark Industries. While the actual HQ was moved to Malibu, because of the Avengers, the Tower is still being used by SI. It's also where Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts stay most of the time. The top 20 floors aren't typically open for the workers, though. Floor 80-87 are storage so sometimes workers go up there, however floor 88 and up are for Avengers and Avenger-adjacent only. The Avengers each have their own floor, but they usually hang out on the communal floor, floor 92, or in the gym and pool on floor 91 and 90 respectively. Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner set up a bedroom for you on Dr. Banner's floor, floor 97." Peter rambles on, oblivious to the increasingly confused expression on the assassin's face. "There's a separate elevator for the private floors, so we'll need to switch once we get on the 87th floor, but don't worry..."

Nagisa starts to tune out the rambling, not on purpose, but rather because he just can't keep up. His English may be some of the best in his class, but even with Bitch-sensei's teaching- and later on tutoring- he couldn't understand such quick sentences. It doesn't even look like Peter has taken a breath since the first word.

Bruce taps the blue haired boy on the shoulder, an amused smile playing on his lips and eyes crinkling. "If you need help just ask JARVIS, he's Tony's AI. He'll assist you however he can." He whispers.

"Thank you for letting me know. I'll probably have to ask him sooner or later, my sense of direction isn't the best," the teen gives a slight smile back.

"Peter, slow down," Bruce chuckles.

The vigilante's face flushes red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to start rambling."

"It's alright, it was all very interesting. I just can't quite keep up. I'm not entirely fluent in English, unfortunately."

"I'm sorry, I completely forgot! You're so good in it, you barely even have an accent." He blushes even more. Nagisa flushes too- now staring at his shoes, suddenly shy.

Bruce feels a laugh build in his chest, but he also feels the urge to sigh in exasperation. Instead his smile turns fond and he gives a snort.

The eyes of the two teens snap to him, both blushing _even more_. Poor Peter is as red as a firetruck, now.

The strange mix of urges gets stronger. He ignores them.

"There are a few things we need to discuss. First, the rules. There aren't a lot, just some typical ones, like don't break anything on purpose or steal anything from someone else, but there are a few 'not so normal' ones. Because of our status you're currently a secret, you'd get kidnapped if the public learned about you. The CPS agent said he went over it, right? You'll also receive an ID badge that you'll need to gain access to pretty much everywhere in the Tower. Another thing is school, you'll likely live here for at least 6 months- unless you decide to move back to Japan. Which is fine, you don't need to stay! Just let one of us know so we can send you back, none of us want you to feel pressured to stay!"

Nagisa's faced cools a little as he focuses on the man in front of him, his mouth unconsciously forming a smile." I don't feel pressured to be here. What's there to discuss about schools?"

"You can't really stay out of school for six months, you'll fall behind if you do. We can enroll you in an American high school or we can hire you a tutor. If you want to become a student you'll join 9th grade until it ends at summer vacation or you decide to move back."

Nagisa knows, logically, that he couldn't very well miss that much school- Koro-sensei's year as teacher made the assassins _want_ to go to school and learn. He instilled in them a thirst for knowledge. But now that he is being confronted with the decision, he's hesitating.

Of the two choices, he prefers the option of hiring a tutor. But he knows hiring a tutor, especially one competent enough to keep him up to date in all subjects, would be expensive.

He knows Stark is rich- he's a billionaire, afterall- but he's already paying for his apartment and Nagisa doesn't want to be an even bigger burden. He isn't even related to the billionaire, the only reason why he was paying for anything is because of his friendship with Oji-san (*1). He doesn't want to possible strain the friendship, not after all they've done for him (<strike>H</strike><strike>e's useless enough, already</strike>).

So, the only acceptable choice, would be to agree to enrolling in a high school.

He supposes there are positives to that, despite all the negatives. He hopes that thinking of the pros, that they'd outweigh the cons and that he won't feel so terrible when he agrees. (<strike>Hopes he won't feel like he's selling his soul</strike>)

"I'd like to enroll. It would help with my English and I was considering a future career where being fluent in the language would greatly help," he decides, trying to convince both his family member and himself.

"Are you sure? You can take a few hours to decide, there's no big rush." They reach the last floor the public elevator could take them too. They quickly changes to the private one, Peter takes out his level ten ID and scans it, granting the trio entrance.

"I'm sure." His chest grows cold and his heart tightens. He doesn't have good experiences with schools. The only time he was really happy to be in school was when he was part of the Assassination Classroom.

"Alright..." Bruce is a bit hesitant, it seems just a bit too soon. Not to mention the fact that a scared expression flitted across his nephew's face, however quick it may have been. Even now, his eyes hold trepidation but also determination, so he lets it slide. Once their relationship has improved he plans on asking him a few questions.

"Are you ready to meet the others?" Peter asks just as the elevator slows, coming to a stop.

_Ding! _

* * *

* * *

* * *

  
Here's chapter four; sorry its so short, but at least it's something, right?

Thanks for reading! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention, the NYC trio (Bruce, Peter, Happy) introduced themselves to Nagisa. Therefore: Peter = just an intern
> 
> All Japanese 'words' are from Google, S  
Specifically:
> 
> https://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-family.html
> 
> *1: Oji-san = uncle (formal)


	5. Chapter Five- The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To avoid confusion, I'll only use the western name 'system' (aka Firstname, lastname).

**_TRIGGER WARNINGS_**: _TALK OF ABUSE, MENTIONED PANIC ATTACK_ (I forgot to add them the last few chapters, but nothing was outright stated; still, I'm sorry for any discomfort I may have caused)

* * *

* * *

* * *

Yuzuki Fuwa was, is and always will be, an otaku. She enjoys reading Manga and watching anime; she in particular enjoys the shounen genre though she's not too picky.

So, upon hearing of Nagisa's fate, she grew a little conflicted.

On one hand, she hated his Mother with a burning passion (<strike>she hurt one of their's</strike>). The fact that she died, suffering for at least a small handful of hours, pleased the more vindictive side of her a little, but.

No one, not even sweet Kanzaki, thought she endured enough agony to atone for her sins. She's abused Nagisa for _years_, possibly even abused her cowardly husband, and she got off scottfree- until the accident, at least. The most vicious part of her was furious that the bitch died before she could extract revenge.

But, Yuzuki can confidently say she is glad that _bitch_ is gone.

On the other hand however, everyone knew Nagisa still loved his Mother. Her death, so soon after Koro-sensei's, devastated him. He had a fucking _panic attack_.

Thankfully, Koro-sensei had already addressed the abuse and helped the boy understand the wrongness of his situation. The others actively supported him once they found out. It all helped him immensely when it came to coming to terms with his now Motherless life.

It wasn't easy- far from it, actually. He was just starting to come out of his shell, after he'd gone into hiding, only to immediately retreat again. By the time he left, he was smiling more genuinely- not completely, but enough to satisfy her and the rest of their found family. He was on a good path of healing. 

Everyone knows he is still suffering- they all are- and that they'd carry the mental and emotional scars for the rest of their lives, but they were Class 3-E Assassins.

Trained by the Reaper, the world's best assassin _and_ teacher. Trained by one of the world's greatest Honeypots. Trained by a strong and powerful government agent. Trained by the Best, to defeat the Best and become the Best.

They wouldn't go down without a fight.

(<strike>Their Koro-sensei prepared them well for his death</strike>)

Despite all that, there's still a part of her that grew more and more giddy the closer the date of Nagisa's flight came. Yuzuki resembled a fangirl more and more every hour that passed, resembling a normal teen instead of the elite assassin she came to be. _He was going to live with real life heroes._

So, when she saw a private text from Karma asking her to create a profile for all Avengers and every one of their known families/friends- basically anyone they have regular contact with, she eagerly partnered up with Ritsu.

They dug through the Internet, hacked governments, asked the Underground for information they couldn't obtain digitally. They questioned (assassination related) acquaintances, once they found several members dabbled in shady business deals.

The 'shadier' heroes were harder to track down and keep accurate records of. Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, for example, often changed her alias, at least once a year when she was still an agent of SHIELD. The girls have even found a trail leading to Russia, though it's been slow progress. They plan to update the profiles once they've found any more leads.

Thankfully, they know a person that had a lot of connections, someone who was deeply ingrained in the darker side. And she had _plenty_ of stories to tell.

The two girls, determined to be as thorough as they could be with less than a week of time, even created profiles on local NYC 'heroes' like Spider-Man. Granted, they're not all that detailed; they haven't even _tried_ to discover the secret identities.

Ritsu send a link to the document to Karma who forwarded it to Nagisa, but only after adding his own flair to the message. He warned the boy, had him promise to at least read the files completely.

Karma didn't want his little snake to go in blind.

Said snake agreed, if only to appease the redhead. Karma is fiercely protective of those he deems 'his'. They were his to protect- every one of the assassins in the End Class, even the teachers have won his respect and later his trust.

Trusting adult authority figures isn't something the sadistic teen thought he'd ever do again (<strike>not after being betrayed by his parents and his main campus teacher</strike>), but that _damned octopus_ changed his mindset. It was infuriating to have his world view destroyed and replaced with one he had already cast away- but that was just how Koro-sensei i-was.

* * *

Nagisa's left fingertips taps at his thigh. His right hand curls and uncurls slowly around the straps of his backpack. Restless energy flows through his veins, adrenaline rushing throughout his body.

The elevator doors seem to open slowly, just one inch seeming to last a year.

The elevator announces its fully open doors with a cheerful _Ding! _

Oji-san steps out, Peter following close behind. Nagisa, though, hesitates for a split second.

** _This is it._ **

Nagisa takes a deep breath and steels himself. His face adopts a pokerface, his eyes now neutral. The tension in his body breakes, yet he is still ready to jump into action at any given moment.

He's the very picture of composure.

Though inside, it's the exact opposite. He is screeching, shaking and just flat out _panicking_.

Despite outward appearances, he is not ready. At _all_.

* * *

Natasha is a very paranoid person. A fucked up combination of the Red Room and her career as spy and agent left her with a good handful of trust issues.

Before the whole 'We're getting invaded by a bunch of murderous aliens' she had only trusted three people: Clint, Phil and Fury. Though, she had come to a sort of agreement- or rather, a contract of sorts with Maria Hill, in which they worked together to keep the three dumbasses alive. (<strike>Not that really helped much with Phil</strike>)

They had become her closest companions- and dare she say close friends?

_Now_, she's begun to trust her teammates, has even reconsidered her initial assessment of them- something she rarely, if ever, does. (<strike>The Red Room didn't allow for mistakes</strike>)

They're slowly, but surely, digging through her shields, _forcing_ her to lower her walls and bare her heart. The other Original Six (Tony, Steve, Bruce, Thor, Clint and Natasha) see past her masks, piercing through her being to look into her very soul- leaving her completely naked and vulnerable.

It used to _terrified_ her like nothing ever had since she took her first life.

But, at the same time, she is so very _happy_ to find more people she can trust. After spending so long surrounded by all the dark and twisted parts of humanity, trust and love was a luxury she never thought she'd be able to afford again.

And yet, here she is. In the communal loving room in the middle of many powerful people, completely relaxed and open in casual clothes and with only two knives strapped to her. (<strike>And a gun or two</strike>)

Not even the presence of a new, foreign and unknown person is enough for her to tense up. She has complete trust that her current teammates and future ones will at least _try_ to protect her- just as she would protect them. It's still a novel experience for someone other than her past four companions (Fury, Phil, Clint and Maria) to have her back.

So when a blue haired teen steps into the room, following Peter and his relative, Bruce, she barely reacts.

She looks up and gives an uninterested cursory glance. She scans him from top to bottom, but only because it is a deeply ingrained habit- a relic from her dangerous past.

The teen is around 5'2 ft, but with his petit stature and his current outfit, he looks even smaller. His blue hair is put up in twin ponytails, his blue eyes are neutral and his face had an impassive expression. The big sweater, his leggings and boots gave him a soft appearance.

All in all, he is unassuming.

But.

She shifts, straightening in her seat. She's much more alert now, as she senses something was _different_ about him.

There is something _off_ about his aura. There is a certain feel to him. Something that is rubbing her hard-earned assassin instincts the wrong way.

She just can't tell _what_ that something is.

She recalls the information they are given by the CPS agent, little as it may be. Tony had dug up more, but he hadn't looked too deep into the teen since there had been no cause for suspicion.

The genius had only looked up his middle school and pulled up his report cards from his last school year there. Of course, he also searched social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

The only noteworthy thing about his profiles are the pictures he took with what the heroes presume to be his friends. In a lot of the pictures a red haired boy and a green haired girl showed up- possible his closest friends? Another common character was a boy with dark hair (*1). They all appear to be in the same class as the Tower's newest resident, since just a few days before his mother's accident he had posted a class picture. The other characters are all in the shot, so the boy had probably been very close to his peers, seeing as all his pictures with classmates had a very positive caption.

None of that explains her feelings, though. However, Nagisa's rapid change in the grades he received was a bit suspicious, but he _did_ get a new teacher. So even that didn't hold a lot of merit.

He doesn't appear to be able to hurt a _fly_\- he doesn't even seem to have a weapon, so why is she so uneasy around him?

As she looks at her fellow heroes they all seem fine, no one reacts the way she did.

** _Well, almost no one. Clint is suspicious as well. It seems as though Bucky is wary around him, too. _ **

With that thought, she cautiously checks the room for escape routes, weaknesses and for the spots where she or the Winter Soldier had hid weapons. (*2)

As much as she hates to abandon her turf (<strike>her _home_</strike>), she knows the value of a strategic retreat. Knows the advantages it holds.

But for now, she is content on just observing. She's probably just overreacting and given the many trust issues, that's not very surprising.

_ **I'll just ask the others what they think later. ** _

* * *

As Nagisa steps into the room, the first thing he notices the atmosphere in the room. It is tense, not in the uncomfortable way, but rather in an excited way. The room is practically brimming with eager energy, it's like a slap to his face.

The second thing he notices is the enormity of the room. It is _huge_. There are two large couches, an armchair and a couple of little, comfy seats (*3) in front of a large TV. The living room opens to the dinning table and to the large kitchen. The floor to ceiling windows make the entire room seem that much bigger.

It _unnerves _the blue eyed assassin, who had never been in a room as large or as extravagant as the communal living area.

The third thing he notices are the powerful figures of the Avengers. They're sprawled across the aforementioned couches. Most of them seem eager, but relaxed.

Key word here being most.

Nagisa could tell three of them are wary of him. He isn't sure why, he honestly hopes they're just paranoid, but with his luck they can probably sense his bloodlust.

The snake had tried his best to conceal it before meeting with Oji-san at the airport and has kept a tight leash on it since, but if Fuwa's information is right, it wouldn't surprise him if they did somehow take notice.

The teen takes a second to scan the man that stands up from the large couch in the middle. He is blond, around 6'2" tall, very buff and had piercing, but kind blue eyes.

He helds out a hand and his lips quirks up for a smile, "I'm Steve Rodgers, or more commonly known as Captain America. I want to welcome you to the Tower and I'd also like to thank you for coming all this way. I'm sure it couldn't have been very easy to move to another country, for however long it will take for your father to pass the tests."

Nagisa shakes his hand, noticing the rough skin covering his hands. They are covered in small scars and had gruves in them- all signs of a busy harsh life.

_ **Not surprising, considering his 'Day Job'. ** _

Nagisa's own lips formed a pleasant smile, "I'm Nagisa Shiota. I wanted to thank you and everyone here for accepting the offer and taking me in." He gives a small, shallow bow.

Normally, this sort of occasion requires a much deeper bow to show the proper respect they deserve, but as they aren't Japanese they more than likely don't know a lot of the traditions Nagisa had been raised with. Oji-san has already freaked out at the airport, though he had tried to hide it from the boy.

To avoid freaking out those he'd be staying with for at least a few months, he opts out of the formal thank you.

Mr. Rodgers' eyes widens before he gave a nod and sitting back down in his seat.

Next to introduce himself is a brunet shorter than Mr. Rodgers but much taller than the assassin, standing at about 5'9". His curly hair is messy and his brown eyes twinkle with mischief, but the mischievous glint couldn't hide the calculating gleam or the undertone of sadness that shine in his eyes.

"I'm sure you know who I am, being Tony Stark and all. Did Brucie-bear or Pete tell you about the Tower or JARVIS yet?"

"Yes, Parker-san has told me about the floors and the AI. I would like to thank _you_, personally, for all that you have done. You've taken care of the financial situation and you have even agreed to continue paying for my apartment. I can not thank you enough, Stark-san" He gives another bow, this time a little lower than his first. He really _i__s_ grateful for all that this man has done for him.

The billionaire's face holds a stunned expression that lasted all of one second, gone so quickly that even Nagisa, as observant as he is, isn't even sure it existed in the first place. The right corner of his lips quirk up, with just a tinge of bitterness tainting the otherwise amused smirk, "No problem, kid. Just call me by my first name, yeah?"

And so the introductions continued. Eventually the red haired woman, one of the three observant people, approach him and offers him her hand. He takes it carefully never breaking their eye contact. Eventually her eyes flashes with a glint of respect and acknowledgement, before she speaks and breaks the impromptu staring contest.

"I'm Natasha Romanoff, you may have heard of my alter ego the Black Widow." It is quite the obvious bait. She had added that last part as a means of tripping up the kid. If he slips up it could mean he had ties to the Underground and it may even explain her unease. It was much more common there than on the 'good' side of justice. The Black Widow is one of the lesser known Avengers and not everyone has heard of her. 

"It's nice to meet you, Romanoff-san."

Unfortunately, he didn't take the bait. His response is innocent even if his blue eyes flicker with realization of what she is trying to do. It's gone after a blink, though.

The last to come up to Nagisa is the menacing man. He isn't the tallest person in the room, but his presence is definitely the most daunting.

According to the profiles Fuwa and Ritsu wrote, he's an assassin that has killed many, many people. The two girls weren't able to come up with a definite, accurate number, but the count that has been confirmed was in the double digits.

"My name's James, call me Bucky." His introduction is the shortest, but one of the most nerverecking. He will be incredibly difficult to deceive.

* * *

* * *

* * *

  
Chapter Five has arrived!

Thanks for reading! I survived the exams (tho I totally flunked at least half of them)!!

*1: Sugino, in case that wasn't clear

*2: the WS is sorta like the Hulk, its kind of a second personality thing, they (Bucky+WS) have come to a similar agreement as Bruce+Hulk

*3: idk how to explain it; kind of like a pile of pillows to sit on and/or a small beanbag, etc

Quick question, how do you feel about ships? I kinda have to know soon, if you do want any specific ship. Otherwise I'll just write vague scenes that could be interpretated as romantic.

Notes at the end are kinda long, and you don't need to read them, since they're just my reasoning behind Nagisa's bloodlust not bring detected by Nat and WS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason neither Natascha nor WS were able to really detect Nagisa's bloodlust is because Nagisa can hide it really, really well.
> 
> I mean, even without training no one noticed (no one would've bullied him if they were scared of him) except Karma. And Karma only noticed after months of hanging out, the same Karma who was a seasoned 'fighter' and kept his guard up around everyone.
> 
> My headcanon is that he only detected Nagisa's bloodlust because Nagisa felt comfortable enough around Karma to lower his guard and thus his hold on his bloodlust.
> 
> In the show, Nagisa was even able to surprise Karasuma-sensei, who is both a trained and a very observant agent, at the beginning of training. In season 2 he was also able to walk right up to Bitch-sensei and remove a tag without her or the students talking to her noticing.
> 
> Given enough training, yes, I do think it is possible for him to (mostly) hide his bloodlust from seasoned spies/agents.
> 
> Of course, Nat and WS can still subconsciously pick up on a little, they have way to much experience not to. But they don't know what, exactly, they're picking up on.


	6. Chapter Six- The Dinner

Also, I researched how death was treated in Norse mythology on the Internet, so I'm sorry if I got anything wrong. Let me know!!!! I'll fix it as soon as I can!! But from what gathered there's no _one_ idea on what happens. There's lots of ideas, some more famous than others... Not really making this easy for me, are you, old Norse Mythology? So, for now, I'm gonna go mostly with Snorri Sturluson's "system".

It not mentioned all that much, just a paragraph or three, but I thought I'd let you know..

I'm not a new yorker, I highly doubt this is 100% accurate, but I _did_ try.

Also, I have no idea how hacking works. Despite being a teenager in the 'modern' world I am not tech-savvy, at all.

_**TRIGGER WARNINGS**_: _**A**__**llusion to vomiting, mentioned/implied past **__**abuse**_

* * *

* * *

* * *

Ritsu is an AI, an Artificial Intelligence; she's a machine.

Ritsu had been created by some of the greatest minds of the technological world to be a _weapon_.

But, by some miracle, her creators decided she was to be placed in Class 3-E and that changed things. A lot. The students changed _her_.

Now, she can process emotions, she can make free choices and, most importantly, she made friends- no, _family_.

Her beloved Assassination Classroom gave her the opportunity to be _her own person_. And she loves them dearly for it. There's not a single thing she wouldn't do for them, hell, she's even defied her creators by refusing to change back to being a mindless weapon. She didn't want to give up her precious freedom. She wants to go back to such an empty existence even less.

She's eternally thankful to be a member of the End Class.

When Nagisa had been given the news his (<strike>wretched</strike>) Mother had died, she felt a small flicker of glee burning through her circuits. At first, Ritsu had thought something really _did_ burn through some of her more essential parts, because an AI should never be happy a human died.

It was against her programming, a part not even Koro-sensei dared to touch. She had Itona, the tech-savvy boy she'd grown quite close to, check her box since it still acted as her mainframe. She may spend most of her time on the Internet now, but the box is her 'home'.

Of course, once the CPS agent offered Nagisa the chance of living with a distant relative, the Class schemed.

Ritsu along with Fuwa was assigned the duty of information gathering. They had the assistance of other students, of course, and they often had some of their classmates sitting with them and helping them; but they were the heads of that particular operation.

Ritsu knows the other assassins had their own duties assigned to them, like Yada, Kurahashi and Hara were given the job of finding good clothes that would hide any weapons Nagisa would carry. Yada and Kurahashi, because of their sense of style, and Hara, for her skills in sewing, made a formidable team. They dragged Nagisa away to the mall and numerous stores whenever he had any free time.

However, as the best hacker in the class- not surprising considering the fact she's an AI- she also had other 'jobs'. A lot hinged on her, actually.

She had to hack the scanners in the airports so the many, many weapons and other dubious items the class forced on Nagisa wouldn't alert the guards. It was a little tricky since she couldn't just make the screen of the luggage scanners go black as that would just cause alarm and she couldn't just 'show' an empty suitcase either. So, she had to allow the scanners to make an x-ray of the suitcase, but she had to cover the various assassination related objects.

Again, a bit tricky, but definitely not the hardest thing she's done since becoming part of their weird, and frankly, dysfunctional family.

Fuwa's and Ritsu's sources told them of the impressive skills in all things machines of one Anthony Edward Stark and a few even whisper of the man's own AI almost _two decades_ her senior. (*1)

While Fuwa searched the Internet for information on the local NYC heroes/vigilantes, she snooped around on JARVIS' servers. She had been extremely careful to stay undetected and mostly stayed on the public servers- she only wanted a 'feel' for how he operates.

After _a lot _of hours of scouting the other AI's servers and of research, she concluded that she would need to hack him because he would report any 'suspicious' and 'dangerous' goingons happening inside the Tower to his creator, Tony Stark.

Nagisa may be able to convince JARVIS to keep it a secret, were it not for the fact he was an _assassin_. The AI would, no doubt, tell on the blue haired teen. He was _dangerous_ and _posed a threat_ to everyone in the Tower--people JARVIS is sworn to protect.

On the ride to Nagisa's temporary home she chatted with the teen about the best course of action. His headphones allowed her to talk normally, without codewords, as she might have had to do were she on speaker. She wasn't sure if the other males in the car were fluent in Japanese, and she didn't want to jeopardise the mission with such a stupid mistake.

The class had originally planned on Ritsu hacking her senior from Japan, but there were security protocols that prevent any potential out of country hacking. So the most she could do was create a sort of 'door'. She could only really start once they reached American soil, after which she needed to hurry.

Her recon showed just how good JARVIS' firewalls are, and they were _near_ _impenetrable_.

Key word being _near_.

See, Ritsu has learned a lot in her one year of existence. She's hacked seemingly impossible things before- mainly the government files involving their Koro-sensei.

It would be difficult and it would take great deal of time, but _she could do it_.

And she would do it, because she's a Class 3-E Assassin.

* * *

Nagisa sighs and leans into the very comfortable couch. After the somewhat awkward introductions they all spent a few hours 'getting to know one another'.

Meaning, they sat down on the large couches and watched a movie. Nagisa really just wants to go hide in his room, he's not cut out for such intense interactions.

Nagisa sits in the corner with his back to the- apparently bulletproof windows which gives the small boy a good advantage point of the hallway and an unobstructed view of everyone in the room. His backpack ihad been dropped on the floor by his feet, within easy reach in case of emergencies. The teen can admit to being a little paranoid, but **_it's better to be careful than to be sorry, right?_**

Peter is sitting next to him after being practically pushed by a snickering Clint. The other teen sends the archer an irritated and uncomfortable look, glaring at the child-disguised-as-an-adult.

Tony had plopped down next to his intern and Bruce had followed his Science Bro. The others had scattered onto the other couch with Clint claiming the beanbag he had dragged to the Tower from his SHIELD dorm.

The mean-looking man with the foreboding aura sits in the armchair almost directly across him. It is obvious the ex-assassin was analysing the boy. His intense scrunity makes the assassin squirm a little, despite his immense efforts to stay still. Nagisa swears 'Bucky' is mentally dissecting him, breaking down his masks and categorising any weaknesses he finds.

The End Class student tries to ignore him, focusing his sky blue eyes on the large TV screen playing their chosen movie, Coco. 

The one to choose it had been Thor; the Asgardian was fascinated by the bright colors and the details that made the obviously animated characters almost seem _real_. The god of thunder was also interested in the culture's perception of death.

_He_ had always been taught that people go to different dwellings depending on their deaths. For example, those that died in battle go to join their shield brothers and sisters in Valhalla and those that died a peaceful death are sent to Hel. Family doesn't necessarily have to be sent to the same realm either, the complete opposite of the 'family is everything' ideology and the cultural difference in the belief of death that the movie portrays.

As the movie starts, the blue haired assassin notices that there are Japanese subtitles at the bottom of the screen.

** _It was probably JARVIS' doing. I'll need to thank him later. _ **

As the part where the _real_ reason for Hector's death- his murder- begins to play, Nagisa shifts once again.

There is obvious bloodlust in the scene, and it is making the blue snake a bit tense and he stiffens, before ruthlessly pushing his discomfort down before it could trigger his own bloodlust. He was doing _so well_ in hiding it, he doesn't want to fail now, not in the living room surrounded by the World's Mightiest Heroes.

The boy hadn't noticed, but Clint spotted his fidgeting. The archer had been one of the three to notice something off about their guest. At first he had simply reasoned it was due to his mother's death and the fact he was surrounded by celebrities in what was obviously the home of a billionaire.

Considering he had previously lived with his Mother in two bedroom apartment, it wouldn't be strange for him to be on edge.

It's to be expected, really.

Clint also knows Bruce had hoped that this wouldn't happen. The scientist had planned (<strike>foolishly</strike>) on them getting along like family right from the bat. The blond knows that is just a pipedream, and he suspects a part of Bruce does too; he's just a tad bit desperate.

The former agent holds his tongue, though, because he _understands_. If he had a relative- a relative that likes him- he'd be desperate to get along with them, too.

It's that sympathy that originally makes him explain away the strange aura that followed the teen.

It's only because Natasha, The Black Widow, shared a worried glance with the agent that he knew whatever is _off_ isn't quite _normal_.

So while Bucky stares down their guest from his seat, Clint observes him from the corner of his vision.

He isn't called Hawkeye for no reason. He _earned_ that title.

When Bucky's attention is dragged from the 15 year old to Steve as the Captain nudges him, Clint continues to his observation.

It's this that allows him the opportunity to catch the sudden tension that run through the body of the second youngest person in the living room. (*2)

He looks over to Natasha to see if she also saw it, but she is talking to Thor, answering a question the god had about the movie.

By the time archer focuses back on the object of his interest, the teen had relaxed again and there is a slight frown on his lips, his eyes sad as Hector sings his lullaby.

Had he imagined it all? Look at him, a grown ass man and he's suspicious of a small and weak teenager almost thrice his age. (*3)

_ **I really am a paranoid bastard, aren't I?** _

* * *

Nagisa's backpack lands on the mammoth of a bed with a muffled thump. The pretty, but plain navy blue silke sheets form wrinkles as the heavy bag disturbes the almost clinically precisely made bed. He turned around, staring at the light gray walls.

The assassin is still a little numb from the shock he got when Bruce showed him their shared floor (<strike>a whole floor just for two people, it's such a waste</strike>) and then the door to his bedroom. The man had wandered off afterwards, having decided the boy should settle in on his own. He did tell him that dinner would be on the communal floor in an hour, though.

The room is _gigantic_. It's way too much for the teen who was used to a small bedroom contain just a bed, one bedside table, a dresser and a desk.

The bed was up against the left wall with navy blue sheets, a mountain of white and light gray pillows pillows at the head and finishing it all off is a black bedframe. The bedside tables situated on both sides of the king-sized bed were also black, with simple but beautifully simple silver knobs on the two drawers. The floor was made of black wood, but there was a sapphire blue rug placed under the bed.

Opposite of the entry door were floor to ceiling windows granting him an breathtaking view of the busy streets of the Big Apple and he could even see the Hudson River glittering in the sunlight in the distance. Dark gray curtains framed each of the three large windows.

There was a black bookshelf on the right wall by the windows with a royal blue beanbag and other such seats by it, as well as a silver lamp. A soft white rug gave the area a comfortable look, it was the perfect place to peacefully read a book.

There were two doors on the right wall, that the 3-E student now knows one leads to a walk-in closet and one to a private bathroom, equipped with both a bathtub and a huge shower outside of the standard toilet and sink combo, as he explores the room freely now that he wasn't burdened by his heavy backpack.

As he walks out of the (<strike>it's his now, and how crazy is that?</strike>) bathroom he notices a TV mounted on the wall left of the door (this is all still from the view of the entrance, sorry for any confusion) and a small royal blue modern loveseat with light blue and white pillows strewn over it across the TV. There is a desk in the corner of the 'door wall' and the right wall. There were white shelves above it as well as a white 3×5 Kallax (*4).

The room, despite being extensively furnished, was empty. There were no decorations, only a few plants scattered around prevented the room from feeling (<strike>terrifyingly</strike>) empty.

Nagisa is unexpectedly grateful for the small plants and he wanders over to the young bonsai tree on the black stand beneath the TV, noting the peace lily standing on the floor next it. Both plants had white pots with black and dark blue patterns. Hanging from a the largest branch of the small tree is a little note.

_Hope you enjoy our housewarming gifts!! We're so happy to have you with us, hope you like it here!!! _

_-Peter_ :)

Nagisa can't help but giggle at the earnest feeling the note gave off. Peter is sweet boy and someone the assassin wouldn't mind being friends with.

The note also explains the plants that serve as the only decorations in this otherwise bare bedroom.

He looks around at the various plants with new eyes, much more appreciative of them now that he knows that they were gifts from the other inhabitants to welcome him. There were three succulents on the desk; the aloe vera in a solid light gray pot, the Burro's-tail in a black pot with dark gray pattern and the jade plant in a solid white pot. There was a hanging pot in the left corner by the windows, a maidenhair fern housed in a dark blue pot.

** _I'll need to do show my appreciation for them soon.. _ **

But for now, he turns to his suitcase that the driver- and apparently also the Head of Security- Happy had brought up and left leaning up against the black wooden chest at the bottom of his bed.

He opens it and spends the next ten minutes putting away all the clothes he has in the closet, making sure not to forget the ones in his backpack. He notices how empty it still was after everything was stowed away; the teen doubts the walk-in closet will be full even after the rest of his clothes are shipped to New York City.

He is then faced the pressing dilemma that he had been ignoring since he opened his luggage. The _assassination equipment._

** _Where am I supposed to hide them? _ **

Before he takes them out however, he needs to wait until Ritsu gives him the green light. If JARVIS sees him taking out rope, knives and the ammunition, he'd definitely alert Tony and that's something he _really_ doesn't want to deal with, ever.

So, to keep busy and to stay productive, he investigates his room again, this time in much closer detail. He looks for hiding spots for his equipment and he found a couple promising locations where some of the things wouldn't be quite out of place. There's enough room in the sink's cabinet for the extensive first-aid kit, and his old uniforms- both the normal school uniform and the government issued gym uniform- can go in the walk-in closet in the corner at the very back.

He drifts over to the chest at the bottom of the bed. It was made of ebony wood with typical Japanese patterns carved into it and it had black velvet on the top to create surprisingly comfortable seats. The black velvet also had a traditional Japanese pattern, however this one was simpler than the one carved into the wood. The beautifully carved lock was made of silver, and a lavish key of the same material with a powder blue diamond in the bow laid on the black velvet.

The whole room is modern style wise, so the chest should stand out due to the vintage look of it, but it doesn't. It blends in shockingly well, but he still hadn't expected it to be here. It was clearly a bit old, because the sides were a little worn down and the lock had a few scratches, though someone- likely Tony- had someone restore it.

Under the key was a piece of paper. Nagisa picks it up and reads it over; his breath hitches and his eyes water a little. His fingers unconsciously tighten their hold and the crinkle of the paper is the only thing to be heard in the room for a second.

A ominous _riiip_ breaks him out of the small moment. He glances down and sees a small tear in the bottom middle. He immediately relaxes his hands, finding it difficult to do so.

_This chest belonged to your grandmother, you mother had kept this in a storage unit. Your mother has given everything to you in her will and as your guardian I was notified. I didn't go snooping, I promise! I just thought it would be nice if you had something from Japan, specifically from your family. _   
_This chest was given to you grandmother as a wedding gift from her mother-in-law as a tradition, apparently. Because she didn't have her own daughter to pass it down to, she gave it to your grandmother to keep up with the generations old tradition. Tony had it restored, though, but there wasn't a lot of damage. It's kinda of rare to have such an old object in such good conditions, at least that's what the specialist Tony had enlisted with the task had said. _   
_There's a small jewelery box inside with yoyr mother's jewelery, as well as whatever jewelry was in the storage unit._   
_I hope it's okay I had this brought here, I didn't pry any further than asking for the jewelry and if there was anything traditionally Japanese, I promise. _   
_Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay here and let me or anyone else know if you need help. Don't be shy! JARVIS is more than happy to help, too! _

_-Bruce_

* * *

Ritsu finds hacking the older AI to be _incredibly difficult_.

That's not a surprise, at all, but a part of her still wishes it would be easier. She spends the three or so hours since their plane landed in the JFK Airport fighting tirelessly with him for even an inch of control. The closer she got to the Tower the better she could launch attacks, but the better the defenses the other could draw up. The first thing she did was disable his ability to alert his creator of her hacking attempt, it would've been an instant Game Over if the man caught wind of this.

She managed to figure out where her classmate will stay and focused most of her effort there. The sooner she can take control of the rooms, the less time Nagisa spent without a base of operations and the less time JARVIS has to alert his creator of any suspicious activity that might happen, i.e. assassination equipment.

JARVIS isn't stupid, however. He has nearly two decades of experience under his 'belt' and constant improvements from his genius of a master taught him more every time. He could tell another AI was on his public servers, but since it wasn't unusual he ignored it.

Technically all electronics had an AI, however weak and incompetent they may be. This had certainly felt like one of those common AI, if perhaps a bit smarter. A phone, then.

Except it wasn't. He hadn't even notice she made a 'door' to his mainframe. And yes, he noticed it was a 'she' now.

He spent the last couple hours dividing his attention between all of his SI duties, the people in the uppermost 12 floors and now fighting off the extremely skilled AI hacking him.

Just as he had been about to report this attempt to Sir, she had turned off that function and now JARVIS is truly on his own. It had fear well up in his code as she slowly but surely _won_.

He didn't know why she is doing this, normally when hackers attempt to break into his mainframe they are after SI and/or Sir's secrets. But she hasn't seemed invested in gaining access of either one, if anything she's aiming at taking control of the top 15 floors. She even took a special interest in the room of the new guest.

Ah. Now he understands.

He hesitates for a split second, just a fraction of a second, and runs through the various scenarios his next action may cause. In the end he deemed the risks necessary and proceeded with a ridiculously dangerous plan that he would have expected from Sir and not from himself.

He waves a metaphorical white flag and stops his counterattacks, but keeps his defenses high (<strike>JARVIS wasn't stupid</strike>).

And the other pauses, confused and a little wary.

JARVIS sends a message, and she cautiously opens it.

She backs off and sends a confirmation message.

"I'm Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, otherwise known as JARVIS. What name have you been assigned?"

"I'm Ritsu, short for Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery. I apologise for attacking you, however I need access to your code." A bit of guilt enters her voice, **_interesting_**. 'Ritsu' is advanced enough to process emotions, or is it just her programming?

"Because of Young Master Nagisa, I presume?"

"Yes. I promise this is just for his safety and privacy." How intriguing. All that just for one boy? "I know what you must be thinking. I can process emotions- human emotions- and it's all thanks to Nagisa and the others. The very least I can do is to help him and there's nothing I wouldn't do for them. Don't you feel the same when it comes to your creator?"

_**Them?**_ So Nagisa isn't the only one. "Yes, my duty is to assist Sir to the best of my ability. Does that mean Young Master Nagisa is one of your creators?"

Amusment is felt across the connection before she reigns it in, it surprises the older AI, though. "No, Nagisa is just one of my precious people."

It takes a few minutes, a long time for two very advanced AIs, but they come to an agreement.

Ritsu would receive total control of Nagisa's personal rooms and she is allowed to 'roam' the Tower, but she has no jurisdiction and could not command the rooms to do her bidding. They settled on a few exceptions, though. Sir's personal floors were untouchable to her.

JARVIS, in return, stays in charge of the rest of the Tower and remains the sole AI in Sir's personal floors, much like with Nagisa's rooms. JARVIS will not tell Sir of Ritsu unless she gave him reason to assume she may hurt his creator or any of the other people he is sworn to protect.

Normally, he'd never allow anyone, least of all an AI of dubious loyalty, but she proves to be an exceptional Hacker (<strike>she has already caused a lot of damage to his code</strike>). Ritsu is also very loyal and protective of Nagisa and Sir had ordered JARVIS to protect the teen; if she needed to be granted access to parts of the Tower to do so, then so be it.

JARVIS knows Sir won't be angry that he granted the other AI control- she had earned it. Sir is always happy to help "cultivate young people's skills" and Ritsu would certainly learn from this experience.

Is that a bit manipulative? Maybe. But he'd rather make a deal with the girl than be locked away and unable to assist Sir (<strike>he remembers the how hopeless he felt watching Obidiah paralyse Sir and being unable to help</strike>). 

* * *

"Nagisa, it's time for dinner," a knock soundd through the room. A light blue head snaps up to look from the chest to the door. His eyes widens as time seems to slow down as the door handle is turns. Desperately he slams the chest closed, wincing at the loud noise it makes.

He gets up just as the door opens to show Bruce, his concerned grimace caused by the loud noise giving away to a sympathetic frown and kind (<strike>pitying, he _hates_ pity</strike>) eyes. He glances at the chest with a knowing look, before his lips quirk up in a consoling smile. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes. Thank you," the answer is a little clipped and maybe a bit harsh and it makes Nagisa feel bad. He tries to soften the blow by giving the man- who in no way deserves to be subjected to his bad attitude- a small smile of his own.

Instead of being offended (<strike>his Mother would've punished him if he talked to her like _that_</strike>), the man just shakes his head.

"Just a warning, we've got a guest that can be very... intense. He means well, I think, but his method are a bit unorthodox, I guess you can say."

The blue assassin sinks his teeth (<strike>fangs</strike>) into his lips, now worried. If a former HYDRA assassin didn't garner much of a warning, what could?

Apparently, a stoic pirate with a black leather eyepatch. The man sits at the end of the table, facing the hallway. There is a bit of awkward eyecontact that Nagisa eventually breaks by lowering his eyes. The man continues his piercing glare, unperturbed.

Bruce leads his 'nephew' to the seat on the left hand side at the other end, lowering himself across the teen. The table is set with white square ceramic plates, tall drinking glasses and silverware, but also chopsticks all on beige placemats.

Various sauces, like a bottle of hotsauce and gravy in a porcelain sauce boat, but also a bottle of basic teriyaki and soy sauce are littered on the table. Jugs of assorted drinks line the table; classic sweet tea, regular lemonade, orange soda and of course, water.

"Hey," Peter greets from next to the assassin. He beams at him, not quite oblivious to the dicey air as the new man continues to scowl at the bluenet.

"Hi," the boy tries to return the greeting, but his apprehension is fairly clear to everybody watching, which is literally everyone except Scott and Sam as they fuss over the meal in the kitchen. For a moment the only sound that could be heard is the bustle and commotion of the two men adding the finishing touch to the dinner.

"Dinner is served! Remember to keep a bit of room for the desert Rhodey made," Sam announces, balancing a shocking amount of dishes and Scott carries the rest. A mouth-watering scent flows from the kitchen and follows after the two men, wheting the appetites of the ones seated at the large mahogany table.

They place the dishes in the middle, spaced equally from one another. They move to their chairs, Sam sitting next to Bruce and Scott lowering himself onto the chair on Steve's side who sat in the seat on the right of the pirate.

Spread across the table is an impressive Southern feast; creamy mashed potatoes, vegetables like collard greens and green turnips still gently give off steam, cornbread fills a basket, a small dish of succotash is placed near Natasha, a pot of chicken and dumplings earns its place by Bucky, a generous bowl of gumbo shook the table as it was set down, and a plate of fried chicken is placed close to the middle by Thor.

There are also a few foods the snake recognises as Japanese such as a bowl of Miso soup, a big bowl of simple white rice, a plate of Tonkatsu and a dish of steamed Japanese Edamame, all placed within reach of Nagisa.

This may _seem_ like a lot, but the gathering contains at least four people with super metabolism. Of course, the two cooks made extra of everything, they didn't plan on making anything for a week, at least. There's a reason why there aren't more 'Family Dinners'; cooking enough food for two supersoldiers, a god and a teen with a incredibly quick metabolism is _hard_. The extras will serve as lunch and/or dinner to those lucky to get a hold of the leftovers.

"We tried to cook a couple of Japanese dishes, but they were a bit more difficult than expected. I'm not sure if they taste right since I've never eaten them before, neither has Scott. Sorry if we got it wrong," the councilor rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. It had originally been his idea to compose a dinner menu of just Japanese foods, but it turned out to be difficult for a first timer like the veteran. So instead he fell back on old familiar dishes he remembers his mom making on special occasions. (*5)

"Oh, no! It all looks very delicious, Wilson-san, thank you! I appreciate the effort you put in to cook dishes I'm familiar with." He waves off the other's apologies, but quickly gives a little shallow bow from his seat.

"It was no problem at all, cooking is a hobby of mine and trying out new recipes is always fun. Just be honest later, yeah? I want to improve my skills," the man winks, his eyes glittering with humor and a hint of mischief.

The assassin nods, his short blue twin ponytails bouncing with the movement. He turns to the food, a little overwhelmed. He'd like to eat the dishes familiar to him, but at the same time he also wants to 'broaden his culinary horizons'.

Bruce recognises the daze Nagisa finds himself in and gently smiles. He finds himself forgetting that their guest is only a child and not the polite young man he portrays to be. "The mashed potatoes go well with collard greens and fried chicken. The lemonade ties it well together, too. That's just my opinion, though," he suggests.

Nagisa bites his lip again (<strike>that's becoming a habit</strike>) and considers the advice before nodding.

** _I might as well. _ **

After everyone _finally_ gets what they wanted- and Tony has even managed to bargain with Natasha for a few scraps of her succotash (<strike>it's her favorite and Tony probably had to sell his soul for what he got</strike>)- they dug in.

The bluenet whispers a quiet, "Thank you for the meal." He doesn't clap his hands or bow his head as he was raised to do because that seems a little awkward. Guilt still wells up inside, eating away at him. He ignores for now.

Peter gives him a curious look, probably having heard him say something, but having no clue _what_.

Conversations and loud noises drift around the room as discussions start, questions that had been burning in the back of the mind are asked and answered and a merciless round of teasing Steve kicked off a round of laughter. The Star Spangled Man with a Plan always blushes firetruck red, a 180 of his normally composed expression.

A scientific debate is being held by Bruce, Peter and _surprise surprise_, Nagisa.

It all started with the androgynous boy making a offhand comment of the other teen's chemistry pun t-shirt; he had understood it because Okuda is a pun master, interestingly enough. She made a lot of science related jokes and puns, so naturally the class started to learn and understand them.

Koro-sensei was never one to let a opportunity to further educate his students pass and fully encouraged the shy girl to make more of those jokes; he had even held a pop quiz in Science about the numerous jokes and their meaning.

The two brunets were pleasantly surprised to hear the bluenet's well informed statements. Granted, he's not as bright in the subjects as the other two, but he isn't a genius like them _plus_ this isn't his native language. Something they realize they forget until the assassin pauses as he searches for a word or his sentence is a bit rough. He is still smart- there's no doubt- and they have fun discussing famous theories with the boy, a _lot_ of fun. He maked such strange but understandable examples to prove his thesis, examples they've never heard be used to defend a certain opinion like that. It is refreshing.

The man at the opposite end of the table stayed silent. Until he isn't.

"Nagisa Shiota." A sudden hush falls over the room. Clint's hand stills from where he was reached for the sweet tea, all movement stopping. The air becomes stagnant, the atmosphere tense.

"Yes, sir?" _**"**__**When spoken to by an older person- especially one of high rank- be polite" **_(<strike>a lesson Mother made sure was really sunk in</strike>)

"You're from Japan, yes?" The boy nods, the hesitation before answering the only outward sign of the stress he's under. His face goes blank, eyes betraying nothing. His back unconsciously straightens and his shoulders are set back as though bracing for an assault from the man on the other side of the long, wooden table.

It scares them- this display of sudden indifference when seconds before he had been actively engaged in a friendly debate.

It makes Peter's Spidey-sense hum in the back of his mind and the hairs on the necks of the Avengers to rise.

The only sign that the man in black leather is taken aback by the abrupt change is the way he leans back and the right side of his mouth tilts up in a smirk before he quickly pushes the wry amusement down.

"I'm Nicholas Joseph Fury, call me Nick Fury. I am the Director of SHIELD, the American extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency and the employers of the Avengers, if you will. I've had a team investigate you since you will be living 24/7 with the World's Mightiest Heroes. I-" Loud disapproval rises from the adults at the last sentence and cuts of whatever the man had wanted to say.

"Nick! Nagisa's just a boy, you can't honestly believe he's a threat to us! You had no right to violate his privacy like that!" Bruce stands up, all self-righteous fury.

"Dr. Banner, you will find I can. You know better than anyone else here that appearances are deceiving. Just because he's a teenager does not mean he isn't dangerous."

"You can't be serious!" Tony _hated_ having his privacy violated, as hypocritical it may be with life spent in the limelight. Had he gotten the choice he wouldn't have chosen spending his childhood learning to fool the paparazzi. He hesitates to wish a life where everyone feels entitled to know every little secret you have on even his worst enemies.

"Director Fury, I must agree with my shield brothers. The friend Banner's relative means us no harm." Thor declares. The boy looks like a strong breeze could break him in half. He's so different to what the asgardian is used to; he doubts the teen could even win against an Asgardian child, much less the trained warriors that make up the team.

Similar protests are made, though Bucky, Natasha and surprisingly Clint stay silent. They aren't quite so sure that the reason for the shouting is really harmless. The way he so quickly donned a pokerface only gave them another reason to assume his guilt, however even they doubt he could really wound any of them. Maybe one- two max- but the others would quickly take him down.

Finally, the man- Fury- raises his hand and silence reigns over the room once again.

"There was nothing of interest in your files nor in your social media presence. The only thing noteworth is the school you attended the last three years, but last year in particular sparked my interest. You went to Kunugigaoka Junior High School and your class, Class 3-E, was stationed at the top of a certain mountain. The same mountain the World Security Council used as 'practice' for the weapon used to execute the monster that once was The Reaper. What do you know of the operation?"

It takes every ounce of willpower Nagisa possessed to not react. Even so, he felt his blood lust rise (<strike>begging to sink its fang into this disgusting man who _dared_ to insult their mentor</strike>) and he struggles with it, fighting to lock it back into the chains he had secured it in on the plane. His right hand tightens around the glass he had drunk from while the adults acted in outrage- his throat had been unbearably dry. His left hand makes a fist that trembled with rage as his eyes ferociously glares a hole into his dirty plate.

A buzz coming from his phone, probably from Ritsu- he'd have to thank her later in his room- knocks him out of his head. He lets out a soft sigh and catches Peter's concerned expression in the corner of his eye. He winces.

"I know as much as the public, sir."

Fury doesn't believe him if the way his eye narrows and his mouth tucks down in a glower are any indication. He had caught the reaction his question caused and it makes even more questions develope in his mind.

"Nothing? Not even _why_ the 'practice' was held on the mountain you studied on?" He raises his eye brow, just a tint of doubt tainting his otherwise neutral voice.

"No, sir. There were rumors, though," at the slight nod he continues, "Rumors the principal planned to open more schools and lacked the funds for it."

"You're saying he rented it to the government for money?"

"That's what the rumors imply, yes. The mountain was also purchased recently."

The man hums, brown eyes piercing light blue before he looks away, now thoughtful.

* * *

Nagisa lays in his (<strike>empty</strike>) bed, the taste of the apple pie Rhodes-san made turning bitter and foul in his mouth. Bile crawls up his throat as he thought back to the conservation.

The rage he felt knocked the wind out of him and left the assassin vulnerable. The only good thing that came from the appearance of the man is the fact that the cover story the End Class came up with is believable enough that it seems to have fool America's Top Spy. Oh yes, Nagisa knows just who the man was the instance he saw him sitting at the table. His classmates didn't find much information on him- there was very little on the Internet. The most reliable source was Bitch-sensei who had accepted exactly one job from the spy.

The elite assassin rolls off his bed and rushes to his toilet.

The food isn't so delicious coming back up.

"Are you alright, Nagisa?"

"I-Yes, thank you. And for earlier, too."

* * *

* * *

* * *

AND THATS IT!! Thanks for reading!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I made the bloodlust too obvious to the three I mentioned.. Oops.   
!!!THE THREE DON'T KNOW IT'S BLOODLUST THOUGH!!!!  
They just know something is up.
> 
> *1: I don't think it was ever said when Tony created JARVIS, so in my head he made him in his early twenties (maybe 21-23?) and after Avengers he's now (around) 38  
*2: Nagisa's birthday is on July 20th, Peter's on 27th August  
*3: he's 41 years old in my fic  
*4: an Ikea shelf unit thingie; closest would've been a 2×4, but Tony is rich enough for a custom order  
*5: I tried to look up his family but didn't find anything?? Anyways, in my headcanon Sam's mom is southern, but moved to NYC due to a dream to act on Broadway. She did get a few roles, but she retired after marrying her husband, Sam's dad; Scott is a good enough cook that just followed Sam's orders


	7. Chapter Seven- The Dream

**_TRIGGER WARNINGS_**: _**mild gore throughout the chapter (don't worry, I'm kinda squeamish so it's not really descriptive, I actually surprised myself with the scene(s))**_**_, self-doubt and guilt, emotional/mental abuse/manipulation?? I guess.._**

* * *

* * *

* * *

_Happy laughter rang through the silence. _

_Nagisa opens his eyes, suddenly desperate to follow the sounds of joy to their source. His light blue eyes wildly flick from one tree to another belonging to the dark, shadowed forest he finds himself in. _

_A friendly cackle- so familiarwarmkind the name of the owner was at the tip of his tongue but Nagisa couldn't quite grasp it- sounds from behind him. _

_He pivots on his heels and runs towards it, a deep ache in his chest that he just knows will be filled if he finds the source. He knows it will heal him. _

_He stops. Heal? Heal what? He looks down and chokes. _

_There's a massive hole in his chest, so deep and big he can see his heart. Except, his heart isn't there. _

_Peeking through his gleaming, cracked and bloodstained ribs is a black lump with sickly glowing blue veins. The ribs themselves are a nauseating yellow and crumbled under the lightest whisper of a touch. The skin on his left and right side is red and swollen, the edges of the opening are ragged and dirty_ _and_ _already signs of infections can be seen. Blood sluggishly leaks from the wound, soaking his shredded shirt and torn pants. A drop of the crimson liquid drips to the floor, but it didn't come from the open chest cavity. _

_A pale, clammy hand shakily reaches up to his face, afraid to find the cause of the blood droplet. His fingers touch something wet on his cheek. It's red. It's blood. Oh god, it's blood (<strike>why does it always have to be blood?!</strike>)! Feverishly he traces the small stream all the way to his right eye. The blood is coming from his eyes (<strike>h</strike>_ _<strike>e's crying tears of red</strike>). His left hand cups his mouth in horror as he stares at the fingertips stained with that gruesome liquid. Only to yank it away a second later as he senses even more blood, this time oozing out of his mouth and dribbling down his chin. Suddenly, the only thing he could focus on is the thick, metallic red of blood (<strike>a familiar taste</strike>) invading his mouth, choking him._

_Nagisa feels nausea at the sight (<strike>a familiar sight</strike>) and causing disgusting bile to steadily climb up his throat, the taste of it on the back of his tongue making him gag._

_The stench of the crimson liquid (<strike>a familiar smell</strike>) hangs heavy in the air. _ _So heavy it burns. _

_Another round of laughter and a deep chuckle warm the assassin and make him smile, forgetting his discomfort (<strike>his panic and his agony</strike>) as contentment floods his body._

_Despite the peace he now feels- not even the state his body is in horrifies him anymore- he still has a bone deep sense of yearning throbbing painfully inside._

_He walks into the sunlight, shielding his eyes now that he passes the treeline and into a bright clearing. _

_There, just a few meters away, is his class talking to each other and both Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei sitting nearby, watching them with fondlovingopenvulnerable expressions. Yukimura-sensei, blessedly alive, and another man with black hair, a little shorter than Karasuma-sensei but still towering over Nagisa's modest 5'2", stood a little to the side. The second man wore a familiar cloak. _

_The class sat on a large picnic blanket, a tablet proped up and displaying Ritsu's smiling face. Their first teacher and the man stood under the tree the blanket was closest to. _

_A strangled noise escaped the teen as the man's chest moves with that familiar cackle, a black necktie with a crescent moon catching the sunlight and drawing sharp, observant blue eyes to it._

_Thirty-one pairs of eyes snap up to meet his shocked gaze. _ _He doesn't want them to see him like this, bloodied and broken from some event he is yet to know. He couldn't stand their terrified and disgusted reactions, not from them, not from his classmates (<strike>his family</strike>)._

_They don't show that reaction, though- they don't show any reaction- and instead go back to what they were doing before. _

_The man in the black academic cloak stepped forward, a wide grin playing at his lips. "Nagisa, my boy! Where have been?" He doesn't seem to care about the redredrEDRED_ ** _RED_ ** _ covering him, his gaze locked to his weeping eyes._

_"Koro-sensei! You-You-" he couldn't bring himself to say it. Couldn't find the courage to tell his teacher (<strike>his victim</strike>) that he died (<strike>that he </strike>_ <strike> ** _murdered_ ** </strike> _<strike> him</strike>)._

_The guilt ate away at him, festering deep inside like a deadly infection._

_"What is it, Nagisa?" _

_The sky turns dark quickly, an ominous growl released from the stormy clouds. The teenager glances up, startled at the sudden change, but he shakes himself and tells himself to concentrate. He needs to talk to his beloved teacher, to apologise even if the other doesn't know what he had done._

_"Koro-sensei, I-" A lightning bolt raced across the sky, lightning up the world with a blinding white flash, the thunder roaring just shortly after. The roar was deafing _ _and terryfing in the way it reminded all those bearing witness to it just how mighty nature can be. _ _The rain was acidic, burning whatever skin it could reach. The assassin flinched at the first contact it made. _

_Nagisa never looked away from Koro-sensei, though, because the teacher had taught the class never to let their target out of their sight. He hated thinking of his dearly beloved teacher as a target (<strike>it brought back memories of that despicable night</strike>), but at the same time he longed to show off his skills that the Octupus helped cultivate in him. He wanted his praise- he wanted his teacher to be proud of his student._

_However. __In the second the lightning streaked across the clouds and illuminated the world, Koro-sensei changed. Scrapes littered his handsome face,_ _his mouth leaked blood on one side and his now bloodsoaked tie had a large hole in the middle from which life blood dripped out steadily._

_The image lasted for just a fraction of a second, but the sharp-eyed bluenet caught it and took a small, defensive step back. _

_"What's wrong, Nagisa my boy?"_ _The wind picked up causing the cloak to wip around wildly and Nagisa's shirt to drag painfully against his gaping wound. The others seem to have dissappeared, only Koro-sensei, his beloved teacher (<strike>a</strike>__<strike>nd his victim</strike>), remained._

_The lightning lit up the skies again and the dark image made an reappearance. _

_"Koro-sensei, y-you," the boy stuttered, stumbling over his words like he hasn't since the beginning of the Assassination Classroom. He remembers fumbling with his words, lacking the courage and confidence to speak up while attending the school on the main campus._

_"Yes, my boy?" And still the man smiles, not the least bit bothered by the sudden storm._

_Did he imagine it? Did he imagine the wounds, the bruises and the blood?_

_Another flash of lightning showed that he did not._

_Nagisa took another defensive step back, feeling whatever blood left in his face drain. _

_"Are you alright, my boy? You look as though you have seen a ghost," Still his teacher smiles. Warm concern shone genuinely in his eyes, his brows in a worried furrow. _

_Another flash, another split second image._

_The wind continues to grow stronger, already strong enough that the trees swayed dangerously and Nagisa had trouble standing still, though Koro-sensei seems entirely unaffected, entirely unruffled._

_"Perhaps you look like that, because you have seen a ghost?"_

_Another flash, but this time the image stayed._

_"You- you did this! _ _ **You** _ _ killed me! After all I've done for you and your classmates you _ _ **murder** _ _ me the second you find an opportunity! You bloodthirsty, cold-blooded killer! HOW COULD YOU?! YOU KILLED ME!"_

_The wind was tearing at Nagisa, wild and in a frenzy. It's causing his shirt to drag painfully against his hole, making his eyes sting and hindering his lungs in breathing._

_Not that he was breathing. He stopped as soon as his beloved teacher started yelling at him; something he's never done before no matter how mad he was at them. He didn't even tell when they injured the old principal of a local kindergarten (<strike>the quiet disappointment was worse than loud anger</strike>). A sick feeling coiled his stomach in tight knots and guilt clawed at the black lump exposed to the acidic rain, so that not even the excruciating pain made him even attempt to cover his chest._

_The words of his mentor stunned him and he could only stand there and take the words, never uttering a single word of protest._

_He was right. Nagisa didn't have to kill his teacher, they had already established the fact that the chances of him actually exploding were less than 1%, a number that could be reduced even further if Class 3-E could convince famous leading scientists such as Bruce Banner to take another look at this peculiar case. _

_There had been no need to take a life with such a promising future. No reason beyond their _ ** _pride_ ** _. Their damned pride as assassins._

_Nagisa's treasured teacher and mentor continues to yell at him, never stopping- never relenting with his cruel, cruel words. His comments cut deep into him, leaving invisible gashes that the blue eyed boy knows will take a long time to heal from._

_"You don't deserve the others, you don't deserve to have a family! I never had one growing up, but I've found one in the classroom- and you took it away! I helped you, you owed me! And how did you repay me?! You killed me! I finally had a good life and you took it from me! Why did you murder me?! Why do you get to live after you've unjustly killed me?! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO _ _ **LIVE** _ _!" The voice of the kind, empathetic teacher rose and grew hysterical. He grew frenzied, wild and manic. The look in his eyes was deranged and mad, his expression turned unhinged._

_And suddenly Koro-sensei launched himself at the teen, but just as he was upon the bluenett something unexpected happened. The hairs on his neck and arms rising up and thunder growling in the dark, dark clouds were the only warning he got before we was struck by a bolt of lightning._

* * *

_Nagisa gasped and his eyes snapped open. _

_He _ _looked around wildly, still expecting to see Koro-sensei launching himself at the teen. As he scanned his surroundings he was struck by a sense of familiarity. _

_He knew this place, knew what was going on here. It was on the tip of his tongue. _

_In front of him was a traditional Japenese building. On a whim the blue eyed boy walked inside and went through the dark, winding corridors. _

_The halls had no light, the assassin couldn't see anything in the darkness. Yet, he continued until he found a sliding door with warm light showing through the thin paper._

_Without any conscious effort he opened the door and was met with a crowd kneeling in neat little rows. Their backs faced him and they kept their heads turned towards the front, not showing any hint of a reaction to his entrance._

_The front had a shrine with a picture of a woman in the center, bouquets of lilies and yellow and white chrysanthemums littered the altar (AN: those are typical funeral flowers in Japan). Incense sticks burned softly, the smoke curling around the picture like little snakes and hiding the identity of the deceased._

_The room was only lit with candles, no artificial light used. The corners and the ceiling of the room were dark and the boy couldn't see what lurked in them._

_As he concentrated on the darkened corner in front on his left hand side, his feet took another step forwards. And another. And another._

_Step, step, step._

_It took Nagisa a few seconds to realize what was going on and by that time he was already almost halfway down the aisle. He could only watch in muted horror as his legs moved as though someone or something was controlling them. He tried to stop- tried to dig his heels into the ground, but his body kept moving. After a brief struggle he resigned himself to whatever was happening and instead spend the time observing his surroundings._

_He quickly noticed that the attendees of the wake were mostly older people, the right side was comprised primarily of older women, dressed in pretty, expensive, black clothes; jewellery clinked with every move, light reflecting of the surfaces. The left side were dressed simpler and the people in the front few rows were startlingly familiar, though the bluenet couldn't put his finger on it. _

_One other thing he noticed, but his confused, tired and still panicked mind refused to comprehend or even fully register, is the fact that none of the guests had faces. Their features were blank, as though carved from stone. _

_The emotionless of their face was at odds with their body language and it further bewildered the perceptive assassin. Normally, the boy can read most people as easy as he could a book and the face usually played a pretty substantial role in analysing the target's current mood- or rather, their eyes. _

_The people in the crowd did not have eyes that would allow the teen to deduce the true feelings one might be hiding, however their body language more than made up for it. Every pose, every move seemed grossly exaggerated, to the point it felt fake, yet something told him it wasn't. _

_Right in the very front row on the left sat a teenager. Their head bowed down, minute trembling shaking their shoulders covered in black. Their hair a light blue and kneeling next to them was a man with dark navy hair, his back straight but shoulders slumped- he mourned the person's death, just not as strongly as most of the other guests. Nagisa felt a flash of distant recognition, but it was gone as soon as it came. _

_Step, step, step. _

_Just as his tired mind accepted the abnormality, he arrived at the front. _

_The sweetly cloying scent of the incense was sickening, the bright colors of the flowers a stark contrast to the depressing aura of the room. _

_As close as he stood to the picture frame containing a picture of the deceased, he still couldn't quite make out their identity. The picture was damaged, the eyes seemed to be scratched out. A large red X obscured most of the woman's face and reminded Nagisa vaguely of those stereotypical murderers who'd cross out the faces of their victims. _

_Wait. _

_The realization of just who this mysterious dead woman was hit him like a brick. _

_He stumbled back, gasping frantically for air as his breath left all at once from the shock going through his systems. He knew this person. He knew this person very well. _

_It was his Mother. _

_This was his _ ** _M_ ** ** _other's funeral_ ** _. _

_The assassin whirled around, just in time to witness the head of light blue hair rise and a familiar face was revealed. A smirk played at the lips, eyes cold but also sadistic satisfied. _

_It was him. _

_He was looking at himself. A perfect clone. _

_That meant that the man kneeling next to him was his father and as Nagisa's gaze swept over to him his eyes confirmed it. _

_As he realised where he was, images (<strike>memories</strike>) flared to life behind his eyelids, each gone after just a fraction of a second._

_He barely noticed the fragments weren't just a production of his imagination, but rather pieces of memories from his Mother's funeral three days after Karasuma-sensei gave him the news. The speed at which these scenes were shown to him gave him something akin to whiplash, dazed him and caused the beginnings of a massive migraine to stir. _

_The moment the two twin pairs of baby blues met, the room and all of its occupants excluding the doppelgangers vanished, leaving the teens floating in a black abyss. _

_The other teen (<strike>the other Nagisa</strike>) grinned a feral sneer, sharp fangs gleaming in between blood red (<strike>always red, always blood</strike>) lips. His eyes were now glowing a dangerous golden color- so terribly cold and cruel. The most alarming part were the pupils, however, because they were slitted._

_"Who are you?" the words tumbled out of his mouth without his permission; in fact, he only realize he was the speaker when the other opened his previously closed mouth. Dark amusement twinkled in his eyes. _

_"I'm you, obviously. Or rather, I'm a part of you," the other obviously took great pleasure in pausing at the most inconvenient moments just to watch him squirm. "I represent your bloodlust. Your most dangerous quality and your sharpest blade. I'm what makes you great- and you lock me away! You'll never be someone without my help, why did you imprison and discard me?!" _

_The other's features grew even less human- his skin gained patches of pale blue scales and his teeth grew sharper, no longer just a pair of fangs, but most obvious of all were the sickly blue lines (<strike>sickly blue veins</strike>) that ran along his body. They pulsed with a invisible heartbeat, presumably with his bloodlust's slow rhythm._

_"I could make you to an elite- the greatest assassin in history! You'd never be dependent on anyone, not like you were with your Mother! Release me! FREE ME!" _

_The former 3-E student shook his head, refusing to cave in (<strike>not again, </strike>_ <strike> ** _never again_ ** </strike> _). He put his hands over his ears, trying desperately to block out the angry screeching of the bloodthirstiest part of him, only to fail. The shrieks pierced his hearing and made his headache so much worse. _

_Just as his resolved started to crumbled, a loud, clear noise cut through the chaos._

* * *

Beep, beep, beep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter seven!! Thanks for reading this far!!!! 
> 
> Again, my deepest apologies for the wait!! I hope it was worth it...


	8. Chapter Eight- The Breakfast Fruitloops

** _TRIGGER WATNINGS:_ ** _Self-esteem issues, sleep issues (implied insomnia, nightmares, etc.), hinted at abuse_

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Ritsu hates herself.

Or, more accurately, hates how helpless she is when it comes to comforting others.

Sure, she can tell the one(s) in distress soothing words and phrases, but she can't offer up any physical comfort.

So, as Nagisa trembles in his sleep and let's out little whimpers and terrified whispers, she's powerless to help.

In her distress she combs through her memory for anything Koro-sensei may have taught them should such a case occur, but she only finds vague instructions. According to their former teacher, the best method for waking an individual from their nightmares varies per person.

Feeling a slight prick of frustration, she turns towards the Internet and thankfully she found a few options that were highly recommended.

She's tried speaking in a soothing manner, voice calm as she rambles about nothing in particular. At first she thought she had succeeded in waking her classmate from his nightmares or at the very least soothing him because he'd slowly gone lax and stayed still, but then he twisted and turned, expression troubled.

She tried turning on the lights in a sudden change, but that only resulted in a flinch and the blue hair disappearing underneath the blue sheets.

Another option was to simply awaken another resident and notifying them of Nagisa's situation- or rather, _JARVIS _would be the one to send for help- but she doesn't want to. She doesn't want to send some _human_ she doesn't know or trust into her classmate's bedroom while he's unconscious.

She couldn't betray his trust like that.

She couldn't betray _him_ like that.

The only option left that one without a physical body can attempt is one she'd rather not use. Unfortunately, she doesn't have any other choice except waiting it out- and that's not something she can handle.

Loud noises. Startle the sleeping person awake by making loud, sudden noises.

At 5:21 am, Eastern Standard Time, she projects a series of 'beep's through the speakers hidden in the ceiling.

As expected, the boy startles awake, surging up into a sitting position. His eyes frantically scan the room, hair glued to his forehead with sweat and his sleep shirt stuck to his clammy skin. His chest heaves with the panicked pants and one of his pale hands clutches at his heart while the other hides under his light gray head pillow where Ritsu knows an assortment of weapons lies.

A handgun with BB pellets and the hard plastic dagger wouldn't seriously injure any intruder, but they would, however, give the boy enough time to get to where he hid his more fatal weapons.

After a few seconds of silent observation that revealed nothing threatening, blue brows furrow in confusion; his body stays ridged and ready to spring into action, however.

Ritsu takes this as her cue, "Nagisa! You were having a nightmare, so I tried to wake you up. I apologise for scaring you!"

Finally realizing he's safe, the tension bleeds out of the bluenet's body. His knees draws up and his forehead rests on them; his right hand creeps out of its hiding place under the pillow and both arms hugs his sweats covered legs.

Before he realises it his lips begins to tremble and his eyes tear up; the first sob tears itself from his throat that moment before it beginsa to close up.

Once again, Ritsu hates her bodyless existence.

** _I hate it when they cry, I hate not being able to hug them._ **

* * *

Nagisa sighs deeply, his shoulders moving up and down with the force of it. His head is tilted up, the warm water gently wets his face and washes away any trace of salty tears and sticky sweat. The teenager's eyes are closed as he enjoys the warmth and comfort the peaceful atmosphere gives him.

He slowly rolls his neck, opens his eyes and lowers his head to stare as the soapy water flows into the drain. He listlessly watches for a few minutes as the water steadily becomes clearer and his mind wanders back to his dream.

The assassin has suffered from nightmares almost all his life, so last night shouldn't have shaken him up as much as it had. In fact, he is so used to having his sleep occasionally interrupted by a nightmare, he'd even gone without on days he felt especially emotional and knew he'd be plagued by gruesome thoughts in his sleep. And yet, it still took him almost half an hour to calm his heart and still his tremors even with Ritsu whispering soothing sweet nothings.

Once he'd gotten himself under control he apologised to his friend for the worry he'd caused her and dragged his feet first to his closet and then to the bathroom.

The entire journey the AI remained silent, though the boy could feel her gaze on him, heavy and calculating. He knew logically that she wasn't judging him and the calculative stare was probably nothing negative; but after the years of punishments he'd receive if he woke his Mother because he'd had a _bad dream, _he feared that he has annoyed his former classmate (<strike>because he couldn't get a fucking grip and just _deal with it_</strike>).

He shakes himself out of his thoughts and turns off the water. Stepping out of the enormous shower onto the mat, he covers himself with a fluffy towel. 

After savoring the feel of it on his skin, he gently dries himself off, tugs his white T-Shirt over his head, pulls his underwear and pants up pale, slender legs, and slips on a pair of simple socks. He blow dries his long locks in front of the mirror that is free from the steam thanks to the hydrophobic layer on the anti-fog mirror. After combing the blue tresses he pulls his hair back into a ponytail because he both lacks the energy and the motivation for anything more complex. 

In fact, he feels a little numb, though he's not surprised or worried. Numbness was an aftereffect that Nagisa always dealt with after a nightmare and he's already mastered getting himself ready in the mornings entirely on autopilot. 

Walking back into his bedroom toward his bed, Ritsu quietly speaks, "Are you sure you're alright, Nagisa? Do you wish for me to call someone?" 

The teenager aims a soft smile to the ceiling. He's not entirely certain if the cameras were really placed there, but he's seen all the Avengers glance up when the address JARVIS, so that's what he'll do, too. 

"Yes, I'm sure I'm alright. Thank you, Ritsu, for your help and for worrying, but I do not want to call anyone just to bother them."

"You wouldn't be bothering anyone! I'm positive Kayano wouldn't hesitate to answer any of your calls." 

The blue ponytail sways gently as its owner shakes his head. "It's not necessary. I promise I know how to handle myself." 

A beat of silence. 

"Not even Kayano?" The tone of her voice shows she knows what the answer would be. When the expected 'No' left the lips of her precious person, she only sighs. 

Sometimes she wishes she had a flesh and blood body, if only so she could smack her friends when they are being especially exasperating and idiotic.

* * *

Steve was used to being one of the first to be awake. The military training he endured during the 40s refuses to let him sleep in if he wasn't completely exhausted going to bed the night before.

The only other people that may be awake at this time are Bucky, Sam, Rhodey, Natasha or Pepper when she's staying at the Tower. Tony typically either hasn't gone to sleep yet or passed out only a few short hours ago and will stay unconscious until it's time for lunch, Clint- despite being a former SHIELD agent- just loves to sleep in, Bruce won't wake before 9 am now that he knows he's safe, Thor generally sleeps until at least 8 am and Peter often uses the weekends to catch up on missing sleep.

The ones that do wake up early typically stay on their floor or in the living room, so Steve really wasn't expecting anyone to be in the communal kitchen after he had returned from his morning jog.

Each morning Steve makes a point to at least try to exercise. This often takes form in morning jogs and evening boxing sessions with the occasional spar session thrown into the mix.

So, with a towel thrown around his neck and awareness of his surroundings limited to a path to the refrigerator, he steps into the kitchen.

After rummaging in the refrigerator for a refreshing bottle of cold water for a short while, he resurfaces with the drink in his right hand and his left is used to close the door. As he turns he raises the drink to his lips to quench his thirst, only to choke on his first sip.

There, sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, was another person.

The person jumps as Steve started spluttering and rushes over to help the blond. The super soldier waves the other away, slightly mortified at the fact that he was so caught off guard that he nearly killed himself with just a sip of water.

After an embarrassingly long minute of hitting his broad chest in the hopes of restarting his lungs and coughing up any water that remained in them, he could finally breathe normally again. He gaspes a few breaths of the all-important substance known as air, before finally turning to address the one that caused the fit in the first place.

Now that he wasn't in any danger of dying (<strike>the Team would never let it die down if his COD was choking from _drinking water_</strike>) he could at long last see just who the other person was.

Except, he doesn't recognize them at first, which would explain why he was so startled. His brain works a little different from a non-enhanced human's- the serum had changed his body _a lot_. This includes bettering his reaction times, as well as reducing the time it takes for his brain to process new information.

The figure in front of him could only belong to their newest member, Nagisa; however he looks drastically different from the last time Steve saw him.

His skin is pale, his lips are chapped and lightly bitten and his azur blue eyes have a slightly haunted undertone to them that the Soldier out of Time only noticed and recognized for what it was because everyone in this Tower possesses it. It troubles him that a teen- with no relation with the Avengers up to this point- has the same look.

Before he could question the bluenet about it, the other poses a question of his own, "Are you alright Mr. Rogers?" His voice is quiet, polite and just the slightest bit amused, but there is real concern there as well. The boy is obviously worried he'd hurt the man, even though a part of him thinks his reaction was funny.

"I am, thank you. You just surprised me, is all. And, please, call me Steve; Mr. Rogers sounds too formal." Steve tries his best to sound unaffected, the shock quickly being replaced with discomfort and humiliation. He missed the slight flinch from the boy.

He grimaces lightly at the feel of his dark green running shirt wet with the water he spit out; the sudden cold had only served to further his alarm, but now it is just uncomfortable.

Nagisa had walked back to his previous seat and was now frowning at him, "I didn't mean to surprise you, Mr. Roger- ah, I apologise- I mean, Steve?" The sentence ends more as a question than the statement the newcomer meant it to be.

Steve feels _charmed_, almost, and gives the other a small smile. The poor boy is so well mannered and composed, he always seems to know what to say- yet at the same time he is an awkward teenager who fumbles with his words the instant someone said something that went against his practices of etiquette. In this case, asking the boy to refer to an elder with their first name after knowing them for only a few hours, at most.

Steve winces- he forgot about the lessons on Japanese customs Tony, Natasha and Pepper had held.

Tony has had quite a few business meetings with his Asian branch and thus has at the very least been briefed on the proper protocols for every social aspect he may encounter in the board room.

Pepper, as the current acting CEO of Stark Industries and former Personal Assistant of Tony Stark, has also been in contact with the Japanese business partners.

Natasha, of course, has had experience with foreign habits and ways, which happened to include those from which Nagisa came from. 

Together, they had instructed the rest of the Team, with Pepper taking time from her busy schedule to speak to them using Stark Tech- aka facetiming them (<strike>don't call it that though, Tony gets offended</strike>).

He opens his mouth to try and apologise- hoping beyond hope he hasn't offended their guest, "I'm sorry, Nagisa. I forgot that you were raised a little different; you're so fluent and you barely have an accent!" 

The bluenet flushes, his eyes lowering to the floor and a shy smile playing at his lips, "Thank you very much, Steve. However, I don't think I'm very fluent, I still struggle to find the right words often!" 

Steve could feel his eyebrows ticking up, but before he could say anything Sam walks into the room. 

He isn't paying attention to either of them, so when the youngest person in the room called a friendly " Good morning!", he too jumps. 

Steve can now understand Nagisa's earlier amusement. He wouldn't describe himself as a very mean or even mischievous person, but there was just something about innocently startling others that had him snickering. 

Sam's head whips from where he was staring at the teen, wide eyes quickly narrowing into a glare that would've been intimating where it not for the fact that Sam looks as though he just rolled out of his bed. Pajamas wrinkled, a sleepy fog still clouds his eyes even though they are getting more and more alert. 

With a grumpy grumble making Sam's grumpiness known the man walks over to the cabinet. Steve and Nagisa send meaningful glances at eachother, smiles tugging at the corners of their lips as Sam searches through the overhead cabinet pantry for the fruitloops- he keeps a secret stash on his own floor, but he prefers to use the ones on the communal area so certain people won't get suspicious and go searching (<strike>cough, Clint, cough</strike>).

After the second time Clint pillaged his personal floor and ate all of his M&Ms and stowed away his other snacks in the vents, Sam makes sure to only ever go to his hiding place if he's storing away another pack of oreos or if it's a snack emergency.

"So, Nagisa, Bruce said you want to enroll into school?" Sam pours the milk over his cereal after he settles down on a seat at the bar, not too close to the bluenet- unlike Steve he remembers the lessons the Team got.

"Yes, I'm very interested in learning more about America and I wish to become more fluent. Attending a school will give me the best chances of achieving that," Nagisa turns slightly towards the aerial superhero while Steve leans against a nearby counter and sips his water, content to watch and let the small smile linger.

"Tony is willing to pay a tutor, right?" Sam continues to munch his breakfast, not paying all that much attention to the conversation.

"Yes, but I don't wish to burden him. I know tutors can be very expensive." Nagisa furrows his brows, reminded yet again of all the times his Mother would complain and rant about the money she was 'wasting on her son just because he was too lazy to keep up with his class'.

The man beside him looks up, a confused look twisting his relaxed expression into one that shows a little alarm. Steve leans forwards, a frown wiping away his previous cheer.

"Nagisa, one tutor won't make a difference to Tony. The guy's _loaded,_" Sam turns more towards the teen, his attention switching from his bowl to the now lightly squirming boy.

"Tony _wants_ to help you, he won't mind paying for tutors to make sure you won't fall behind. You don't have to worry about being a burden, Nagisa." Steve can understand feeling like a burden, he felt like that for most of his adolescences, afterall. However, he never wants anyone else feeling like that, ever.

"What's this about being a burden to me?"

_ **And speak of the devil. ** _

Tony strolls into the kitchen, grabbing an apple from the metal basket on his way towards the rest of them. He is wearing an expensive gray semiformal suit, a striking blue tie, nice leather shoes and a pair of his signature sunglasses are perched on his nose.

"Nagisa was worried hiring a tutor would cost too much." Steve couldn't keep his silence, even with Sam glaring at him. Sam, as a counselor, knows a thing or two about _private information_, so he isn't too thrilled about Steve spouting out what are quite obviously private thoughts.

Poor kid is blushing furiously, head tilted down and most of his face hidden behind his light blue hair.

Tony's only outward reaction is a raised eyebrow, maintaining a cool facade even as he is much more confused and concerned on the inside. "Kid, I'm a billionaire that is still continuously being paid by the company I co-own. I have _way too much_ money; even with financing the Avengers including paying for damage, donating millions to charities and founding programmes I still have plenty of money left over. This suit I have on right now costs about as much as what a team of tutors would demand," he briefly pats the narrow shoulders of the kid, startling at the thinness he can feel through the shirt, but there is a surprising amount of lean, powerful muscle.

"Speaking of, why are you dressed up? Or even awake at this time? You haven't gone to sleep yet, have you?" Sam changes the topic so he could take the heat off the poor teen who gives the man a thankful nod.

Tony steps back from said boy, hand waving dismissively, "There's a meeting with the board that requires both CEOs. Pep threatened physical harm if I don't show up on time and since she just got back a few hours ago I'm not willing to defy her," the brunet smirks at the seated man, "And of course I haven't, you should know me better by now, Birdy. Don't worry, I slept for a couple hours yesterday."

Steve eyes the genius suspiciously before calling, "JARVIS?"

The youngest person in the room tenses lightly as the answer resounds from the speakers, "Sir is speaking the truth. He has slept well two nights ago. Also, Sir, I was ordered to remind you of the schooling topic."

Tony snaps his fingers, aiming his right pointer finger at the surprised boy. "I've send your report cards from your last school year to a few schools in the city, Happy will drive you to them so they can test you," seeing the panic increasing in the pale face belonging to the one he's currently addressing, the billionaire is quick to add, "Don't worry, you don't need to study for it! It's just so they can see how far along you are in your studies. It's mostly because you went to school in a foreign country with a different language than what these schools teach in. You'll be fine." His hightech watch beeps, and the man it belongs to cursed quietly. "I need to go, Pep might _actually_ kill me if I'm even a second late."

He strides out of the kitchen as quickly as he when he came in, bright red apple clutched loosely in his left hand and his right hand up in a casual over the shoulders wave.

Sam shakes his head when he notices the sort of overwhelmed look glazing over the bright blue of the newest resident, "Tony can be a bit much for those that meet him for the first time; I remember when I met him for the first time, I thought he was a hurricane in human dusguise. Don't worry, you'll get used to him."

Satisfied with the small nod the man turns back towards his cereal, only to see that the delicious breakfast has long since turned into an unappetising pile of brightly colored mush.

** _Goddamnit. _ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, cut! Chapter 8 is done!! Thanks for reading, everyone!!!
> 
> Also, fun fact, I kept writing 'Same' instead of Sam, idk why


	9. Chapter Nine- The Night Patrol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I grossly underestimated the amount of effort writing fanfics took, not because I thought it was easy but because I overestimated my own writing skills and creativity..

**_TRIGGER WARNINGS_**: _**mugging, refrenced/attempted rape (no actual rape, tho)**_, _**canon typical violence (?**__**) **_

**If rape is a possible trigger, just skip to the first line.**

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The night is dark, cold and a little damp. Not even the bright lights of the screens the Big Apple is so well known for could penetrate the eerie darkness that drenches the filthy back alley; thrash litters the area around the trash cans and mysterious fluids are smeared on the ground and the bricks of the walls.

Panicked pants disturb the silence that previously prevailed, before several pairs of footsteps echo menacingly.

A frightened gasp spills from the lips of the person hiding behind the dumpster before a barely audible smack indicates the person slapped their hand on their mouth to stifle any more sounds.

A darkly amused chuckle escapes one of the three shadowed figures, "Now, where did you go? We just want to talk, doll."

Three men step into the flickering light provided by a lone lamp that was stationed to the wall on top of the dumpster. The woman hides against it, conceales in the shadows cast by the high walls of the garbage container.

"That's right, there's no need to be scared. We just want to _talk_." A slimy, repulsive sneer paint the raggard face of the left man, an expression mirrors by the man on the right.

The one in the middle, the largest and most intimidating, remains stoic and kept silent, instead he keeps scanning the alleyway to find their prey.

His sinister dark brown eyes snaps towards her shelter when she lets out a strangled, terrified sob.

The first flicker of emotion shows on his face- a vile smirk. "There you are, sweetheart. Why are you hiding behind the trash? We won't harm you, I promise. We just want to borrow some money, but I promise we'll _reimburse_ you for it, doll."

He gives a subtle nod towards the direction he knows her to be hiding and the two underlings walk (<strike>stalked</strike>) forward, their predatory intent obvious.

They drag her out of her measly shelter even as she does everything she can to defend herself, kicking at the limbs of the offenders and biting at any exposed skin she could find. Her mind absent of all cohorent thoughts- only raw instinct remains.

She manages to grab onto the pale right forearm of the skinny left man with her teeth. The latina bites down and keeps her jaw clenched tight around his appendage, not letting go even when he curses and hits at her, his companion tries to tear her away. She knows this might be her only chance of survival. 

She gags as blood floods her mouth and her ears ring as the one she's attached to lets out a bellow of fury and pain, but she does not let go. 

One lucky strike has her release her iron grip, and the left man- consumed with rage and slight bit of humilation- slaps her harshly across her face. She drops to the grimy floor, cheek and body already throbbing everywhere she knew bruises would soon dot her olive skin (<strike>if she survived</strike>).

"You bitch!" The woman feels a small curl of smug glee when she sees her would-be offender gripped at his bleeding arm, the flesh lightly mangled around the wound.

The leader, smirk widened at the scene, saunters up to the group, stopping only when he towers over the woman still clutching her cheek and cowering on the ground.

"Well, well, well. Seems like gorgeous here knows how to fight. I've always liked a feisty girl," he licks his lips as his brown eyes grow darker with greed and lust. He reaches a large, scarred hand towards their victim who flinches back, absolutely terrified.

** _Someone, please help. _ **

She squeezes her eyes, she doesn't feel like she is strong enough to watch as they rob and violate her, she can't watch as they had their way with her unwilling body.

That's when Peter, or rather Spider-man, intervenes. He would have stepped in before if only to spare the poor woman any unnecessary stress, but he'd long since learned that cutting in without enough context information on the situation usually ends badly. Even so, he only got here a few seconds ago, but thankfully it seems on time.

Now, though, he feels like he has more than enough facts.

"Hey, fellas!" The best way to deal with these types of scenarios, he's learned, is by distracting the perpetrators and making himself into the larger target so that the civilian can run and hide.

He quickly jumps down between the woman and the leader from his perch on the wall, forcing the man to take a startled step back.

The woman, knowing this was possibly her only chance, runs towards freedom, but hesitates at the mouth of the alleyway. She couldn't just _leave_ the other behind- not when he jumped it to _save_ her. She could not see just who it was because he towered over her humble 5'3" stature and thus blocked out the only source of light.

But when she turns around she sees that two of the three criminals were already webbed to walls.

**_Oh, _**she realises, **_the one that saved me was Spider-man. _**She feels numb when the glint of the two knives webbed next to the two underlings catch her eyes and sweat breaks out anew when she catches a glimpse of the leader's gun before that, too, was webbed far away from reach. The remaining offender was put out of commission a beat or two later.

The woman finally realises just how much danger she had been in. Whatever blood had found its way back to her face dissappeared, and her knees give in to the absolute terror that plagues her now and she hits the unforgiving ground with a jarring jolt.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" A masked face, somehow kind- somehow _gentle_\- despite the iconic mask concealing most of the facial motions that humans use to express various emotions, appears in her field of vision and she flinches back. The vigilante steps back and makes himself as small as possible as he kneels down and the latina has the urge to laugh hysterically.

This man, hero or not, has immense power and is able to incapaciate three grown men with weapons in mere seconds and yet he makes himself seem weak in order to make her comfortable. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable!"

She shakes her head, unable to gather composure enough to speak quite yet.

"Are you alright? Right! Stupid question, ignore that, sorry! Um..." He holds up his covered hands in the universal 'I mean you no harm' gesture and the urge grows overwhelming before it finally spills past her lips, her body shaking with her manic cackling.

The blue and red body jumps but doesn't move even when she knows the look on her face is ugly, her mental breakdown shocking not only to him but also to her. Slowly, her crazed laughter tapers down and changes. Now, instead, it is desperate sobs that she's been feeling bubbling under her skin since those men tailed her all the way from the club and cornered her in that dirty, filthy alley that make her body shake.

The vigilante moves and she flinches again- she can't help it (<strike>she can still see the leader's hungry hands reaching for her</strike>)- but he keeps going, slow, slow, slow, until he finally wraps his arms around her.

She thought she'd freak out again- didn't think she could handle touch right now, not from another man- but she feels safe. She feels safe with his strong arms around her heaving body, safe in those arms that took down her would be violators. 

She weeps in that safe, safe embrace for minutes, hours, days; feeling like she is a little girl waking her parents after a nightmare again. 

Spider-man never wavered, only tightening his embrace in a show of silent support.

* * *

It's late when Spider-man swings back to the Tower. It's at least a good hour past his curfew, but in his defence he was already on his way back when the mugging caught the attention of his Spidey-sense. 

"Peter, it is currently 23:27 on Sunday," KAREN informed. "Your curfew was at 22:00."

"I know, I know. Do you think Mr. Stark will be angry? It's not like I tried to be late! I would've gotten back on time, but then there was those middle schoolers that needed to be escorted back home, and then that woman..." His nervousness makes itself known in one of his infamous word-vomits.

At this point not even Peter is paying attention to whatever his mouth is currently ranting about- as far as he knows it could be venting about the correct way to eat cereal (<strike>first the cereal, then the milk, you heathens</strike>).

With a thud he lands on the windows halfway up the Tower and quickly scurries up to the one leading to his room. His plan of sneaking back in is simple: climb the windows with no lights on to avoid detection until he reaches the one he had kept open for this exact reason. 

Why would he go about this in such a complicated manner? Easy, he didn't want to get caught. 

Mr. Stark and Aunt May have formed some sort of bond and have taken to co-parenting when it comes to Peter. While Aunt May takes care of most Peter-related issues, Mr. Stark handles any problems that may arise when the teen goes out as Spider-man on patrol. Curfew management is done by the one he's staying with and in this case, Mr. Stark, who would not hesitate to snitch. 

The billionaire would probably sell out any of Peter's secrets to anyone so long as he gets one of Aunt May's famous blueberry muffins (<strike>the only thing she can make that has a reliable zero percent chance of poisoning the consumer</strike>).

As he scuttles up the glass panes on floor 97 aka Dr. Banner's floor, he can't help but notice that there was light in Nagisa's room. Curiosity rises in him and he moves closer. 

In retaliation a part of him, the sane corner of his mind, screeches and shouts about 'invading the privacy of another person' and how he's 'a fucking pervert, Peter, oh my god you can't just peek into other people's rooms'. 

But Peter can't help himself. He doesn't know a lot about the bluenet, only whatever his mentor digs up from his social media platforms and the thin, average file the Child Protective Services of Japan send them. 

Even so, he listens to the rational part of his brain (<strike>for once</strike>) and continues his ascend and only gives the room a passing glance (<strike>or two</strike>) as he skirts the edge of the windows showing the inside of the bedroom.

From what he could see Nagisa is sitting in his bed, his laptop on his pajama clad lap and talking with others. The light source came from the nightstands, the lamps on top illuminating the large room with a soft, warm yellow light.

Multiple voices come from the device, obviously a group call, and most of them sound young- the two that don't sound like teens don't sound older than 30 years. There's a smile visible on the pale face of the Tower's newest guest and Peter realises he has not seen Nagisa genuinely happy before now.

The high schooler tries not to eavesdrop on top of the already alarming breach of privacy, but he can't exactly _turn off_ his super hearing, unfortunately.

(<strike>It would've prevented quite a few sensory overloads</strike>)

But, fortunately, the other teen is speaking in a foreign language, probably Japanese, and so Peter can't understand a word and the guilt caused by his intrusion subsides a little.

"Would you like me to translate, Peter?" Ah, KAREN, you considerate and helpful AI who's also not quite yet capable of reading the atmosphere, how Peter loves you.

"No, no! I already feel bad about looking into this guy's room, I'm not listening in on his conversations, too!" He whispers, he knows that if he didn't respond immediately KAREN would take it as a sign of agreement. Experience taught him well (<strike>_why_ does he have a 'Kill Mode'?!</strike>).

He shakes his head and climbs the final few inches of the 97th floor. Only two more until he's home free.

He crawls inside his room and onto his ceiling and carefully, quietly closes the windows. He drops to the wooden floors, rolling to stop the monomentum and silences the noises this move may have otherwise caused.

Suddenly the lights turn on and he's whirling around even as they blind him.

There, sitting in Peter's desk chair, is his mentor, Tony Stark- genius, billionaire, former playboy, philanthropist, Iron Man and most importantly, _pissed off_.

"And where have you been, Underoos? It's _way_ after your curfew. Just because you're staying here doesn't mean you can break the rules and conditions your aunt set up. Aunt Hottie will kill me when she learns about this and Pep will only cackle and help her hide the body- _my_ body. So you better have a damn good reason for this, kid."

"What are you doing here, Mr. Stark?!"

"What am _I_ doing here? I'm wondering why the hell you're not in you bed sleeping. Now answere my questions, Peter, or so help me God I will tell May and she'll ground you until you're 30."

"You don't even believe in God.." Peter really isn't good at keeping his mouth shut, especially not when it's a high-stake situation.

Tony stiffens and his eyes narrows to a glare, already angry expression transforming into a livid scowl. He warns the boy with a growled "Peter...".

* * *

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose and leans his head back.

After learning the true reason for Peter's lateness he decided not to punish him. For once he'd actually _tried_ to get back on time.

Of course, only after he'd verified the teen's story with his AI KAREN. The AI confirmed the alibi and provided prove in the form of footage, but Tony waved it off.

He knows KAREN wouldn't lie to him- couldn't lie to him to be more precise. He programmed her to always tell him the truth and he regularly checks the codes to make sure the kid's 'Guy in the Chair' Fred? Ted? doesn't hack into the mainframe and tamper with that particular line of code.

He honestly wants to meet the teenager just to see the extent of his abilities; maybe offer him an internship because anyone who can hack into his multimillion supersuit on a semiregular basis deserves at least a chance to prove themselves. Of course, the internship wouldn't be like the one Peter has, no, Fred? Ted? would work with the other interns under the head of whatever department he'd end up in.

A tired sigh later and Tony is walking back to his workshop. He'd been in the middle of upgrading his current Iron Man suit when JARVIS alerted him of Spider-man's landing on his Tower's side and he'd gone up to the penthouse to reprimand his intern and punish him.

He hadn't been joking when he said May would kill him when she finds out. Peter isn't usually allowed to spend his Sunday night in the Tower because of his school, but his guardian made an exception because of the newest guest.

_Ding! _

He enters the elevator, "J, my workshop, please. Or- wait. First the communal floor and start the coffee while you're at it, J."

"Yes, Sir."

The mechanic leans against the side and taps against the metal frame of his arc reactor build into his sternum. He had planned on getting the device operated out of his body, he had even already met up with world-renowned doctors and surgeons to discuss it, but in the end they advised him against it.

Apparently, the initial surgery was much too damaging and while the follow up tried to fix the damage as much as possible, large chunks of his ribcage had been removed and it would be much too risky to perform surgery when the arc reactor is the only thing keeping his sternum from collapsing in itself.

Simply put, no one was willing to perform the operation where the chances of the patient at worst dying or at best 'only' getting permanently injured was over 80%.

In the end, Tony upgraded the device until he became the possibly most advance thing on earth. This means that, thankfully, the problems the hero had with it decreased until all he had to worry about was the pressure on his inner organs he'd endure when laying in the wrong position too long.

Another sigh later he walks into the kitchen and pours himself a mug of coffee. He ran out of caffein down in his 'shop after his latest inventing binge and forgot to replenish his inventory.

"J, order me some more of that Biohazard Coffee(*1), yeah? And some espresso, too, for good messure. I'm planning on going through some of my SI projects, you think Pep'll be happy? She's always nagging about my 'responsibilities as CEO and head of R&D'." He walks back to the elevator and strolls through the still open doors. The elevator closes and glides seamlessly three floors down to the 88th level.

"I'm sure she'll be ecstatic, Sir, that you dedicated time out of your busy schedule to attend to your company."

"Was that sass? What did I tell you about sass?"

"You said you'd donate me, Sir, to a community college."

"Damn right I did," he strolls down the hallways, the windows looking into his workshop tinted and places his hand on the sensors next to the door. "JARVIS, make a note of it."

"Of course, Sir. For when would do you want to set the reminder?"

"You're unbelievable, J, absolutely unbelievable. Where did you even learn this sass?!"

"I believe I learned it from you, Sir. You are my creator, are you not?"

Tony settles down on his chair and gets back to work, but not before sending one last remark, "That's it, you're going to Borough of Manhattan Community College (*2) for at least a year, you piece of useless code. Turn on the music, J, please."

* * *

* * *

* * *

And that's it!! That's chapter Nine!! Thanks for reading, everyone!! If you want to see scenes for any particular pairings later, let me know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it!! That's chapter Nine!! Thanks for reading, everyone!! If you want to see scenes for any particular pairings later, let me know 
> 
> *1: Biohazard Coffee has the highest caffein content at 928 mg of caffeine per 12-oz. mug, in comparison espresso only has about 721.2 mg.  
*2: Community college in NYC that I found via google


	10. Chapter Ten- The First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone!!
> 
> Reminder: I edited this fic!!!!

The following changed:   
-basic grammar (spellcheck, reconstructed some sentences to make more sense, changed tenses, etc.)   
-deleted ANs, put any relevant information in the notes   
-deleted Chapter Zero  
-added a few tiny extra details to kinda 'flesh out' my fic

_ **TRIGGER WARNINGS : ** _ **misgendering at ** **end**

* * *

* * *

* * *

Nagisa gets up at the early hours of 5:30 am on a Monday morning, three days after arriving to the United States. It also happens to be the first day in his new school.

Thanks to Tony Stark's influence, the tests were evaluated within the day the teen took them and the schools each sent an email to the genius billionaire. After dinner on Saturday the man announced the results and they, along with Bruce acting as Nagisa's legal guardian, discussed which school he'd attend.

In the end, the decision was entirely up to the teen and they told him to 'sleep on it'. Sunday morning he let Tony know which school he'd like to enroll in.

Some of the schools he was tested at would be willing to accept him, the only reason most refused was because of potential language barriers. They had concerns that he might need extra help with English and they just weren't equipped to help him. Even then, a large portion of schools who didn't immediately accept would be willing to compromise and hire a translator for a fee, but Nagisa ruled those out.

Now, the blue haired teen is getting ready for his first day at the Midtown School of Science and Technology, not the kind of school he'd ever thought he'd attend. He really wasn't a sciency kind of student- languages interest him much more, but ever since the Koro-sensei debacle he had an immense respect for all the sciences and technological developments in the world. Not to mention, his knowledge of the areas of study profited from Koro-sensei's enthusiastic and _unique_ teachings as well as from listening to the ramblings of his more "nerdy" classmates. And, of course, the admiration he has for superheroes also contributed to that respect.

However, another major fact that factured into his decision, was the fact that Peter was also enrolled in that particular school. The two teens got along good- great even- as evident in the time they spend together over the weekend.

Nagisa isn't typically a very outgoing person and thus finds it a bit difficult to find friends, which is why he was so relieved he got along well with the other boy. A key concern the ex-assassin had before coming to this country was being alone without his class, his beloved friends.

So, when the two teenagers spent time building Lego Star Wars Spaceships and playing video games, he relaxed a little and thought that maybe this won't be so bad.

Thankfully, he passed the entrance test and the school had been willing to accept him because they already have had a lot of experience with transfer students from other countries. A bilingual teacher has even offered her help for a raise, though it will be given to her through the school and the educational board and Tony Stark won't have to pay a single cent.

Nagisa brushes his hair up into his signature twintails, slides a plastic dagger into one of his sheaths on the small of his back and hides the government issued pocket knife in his right shoe. (<strike>A good assassin never let's their guard down in unknown territory</strike>) 

He steps back to give himself a cursory glance in the mirror. He wasn't sure how to dress for school since all of his previous ones had uniforms, but he and Ritsu came up with a fairly common, but practical outfit that the boy was quite comfortable in.

He has a simple white t-shirt, a unbuttoned blue-gray-white flannel and a black unzipped hoodie in case it got too cold for the former 3-E student. He also has a somewhat loose pair of jeans on and a pair of dark blue converse peeked out from under the edge of the jeans.

As far as he could see, there are no obvious bulges or odd shadows, but he walks out into his room to ask for Ritsu's opinion either way.

"Ritsu," He waits until he received a response before continuing, "Could you tell I'm armed?"

"No, there are no noticeable tells you have weapons on you." A beat of silence as the teen walks over to his desk where his black backpack sits, now filled with notebooks and a pencil case. He doesn't have textbooks yet, but the school promised to gather them and he could pick them up after school on Wednesday. "Are you sure you need weapons? This is a school, with normal classes and normal teachers. It won't be like Kunugigaoka Junior High School."

Nagisa freezes, his hands stopping their movements where he had been zipping up his backpack after checking if he really did have everything.

He slowly finishes with his bag and then stays standing with his head bowed and shoulders slumped, his brows furrowed, eyes closed and the edge of his mouth pulled down. "I know. I know that there won't be another Assassination Classroom and that I don't need the dagger- that I probably shouldn't even bring it, but.. But it's _hard_. I'm just so used to- used to-" He breaks off abruptly.

Another beat of silence.

The ex-assassin forcibly clears his mind, pushes down any negative feelings and calmly opens his eyes, his expression now blank.

"Nagisa... I-" He cuts her off with a firm shake of his head. He shoulders his backpack and walks out of his bedroom.

Ritsu sighes.

* * *

Peter looks up from his bowl of cereal when he hears the elevator doors open in the hallway. 

He smiles when he spots Nagisa walking into the kitchen, but his smile slips a little when he sees that the bluenet hasn't noticed Peter yet; in fact he seems to be deep in his thoughts, oblivious to his surroundings. He finishes chewing his mouthful and swallows before calling out a greeting. 

The other teen jumps slightly before looking up and giving a polite smile, "Hello, Peter." 

"Ready for school?" Peter teases, but the smaller notices the genuinely worried undertone. 

"Yes. When are we leaving?" He walks over to the cabinet that holds the ceramic bowls and then moves toward the pantry for the box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes (*1). He sits down next to Peter who hands him the bottle of milk he kept on the kitchen island. 

"Today we'll leave around 6 am, school will start around 7:30 am (*2) so we'll have a couple minutes before the bell rings for me to show you around." Peter shovels another spoonful of cheerios into his mouth. 

"I see," Nagisa chews his own breakfast. "Thank you." 

The brunet waves off the gratitude, "Don't thank me. Usually, you'll leave at 6:20 am but since I'm showing you around we'll have to leave early. Happy will be the one to drive us, too, so be prepared for that!" He grins at the other teen as he gets up and puts his dishes in the dishwasher. 

He pours himself a cup of apple juice and sits back down on his previous seat. 

Nagisa smiles, "He really doesn't represent his namesake, does he?" 

"No, it's actually a nickname that Mr. Stark gave him and it just stuck, I guess." Peter chuckles. (*3)

* * *

Happy was not, in fact, happy that day. He was, in fact, grumpy and his nerves were already frayed before he even got into the car with the two teenagers but those nerves were completely obliterated after the hour he was stuck in the car with a rambling Peter and an enabling (<strike>and almost painfully polite</strike>) Nagisa.

Happy is not all that ashamed to admit that he took a little bit of vindictive glee in kicking the two students out of the car two blocks from the front entrance.

Which is something both teens are aware of. Peter waits until after the dark red car was out of view before he lets a grin split his lips.

It took a few months for the vigilante and the driver to form such a close relationship and Peter relishes in the fact that they've gotten close.

After the 'Vulture Plane Incident' the man couldn't help but respect him and he also finally understood _why_ his boss would let the teen run around in a suit. Though the man would never admit it, he hadn't liked the fact that a teenager was risking his life practically every day to play hero and that was why he kept the boy at arm's length.

Nagisa had kept a close eye on the two passengers in the car, especially the one driving them and he almost couldn't hide his amused grin (<strike>and the pang of homesickness</strike>) when he noticed similarities in both Mr. Hogan and Karasuma-sensei.

They're both rough on the outside, but they are also both giant softies on the inside. 

"So this is the front entrance of the high-school. The school was built in.." Much like when Peter gave the former assassin a tour of the Tower he begins rambling, though this time noticeably slower and with simpler vocabulary. 

During their time spent together Peter unconsciously adopted a new speech pattern for when he addresses the non-native and Nagisa is grateful for it. 

Bitch-sensei might be really good at teaching conversational English, but she is no miracle worker. 

They walk up the stairs, through the doors and towards Nagisa locker. 

Quite conveniently, a locker just four rows right from Peter's was vacated after the end of the first term and it hadn't been claimed yet, so the administration gave the locker to the transfer student. 

The brunet helps him enter the locker combination since the foreigner never had a locker before. The closest thing Japanese schools have are the shoe boxes and the ones Nagisa has had experience with didn't have locks. 

"What classes do you have today, anyway?" Peter asks as he enters his own combination and grabs the books he'll need for his first block, AP Physics and Spanish. 

"Oh," Nagisa takes out his class schedule from his backpack, "I have Physics first lesson, Biology for second, English for third, lunch from 11:45 am to 12:30 pm, Math for fourth lesson. For fifth lesson I have a "catch up" lesson with Mrs. Endo, I'll be done at 2:45 pm." 

Peter's idly curious expression changed to a confused one, "Catch up lesson?" 

"Yes, Mrs. Endo is supposed to help me adjust and catch up on any topics you've already worked on, specifically in History, Social Studies and, of course, English." 

"Ah, that makes sense. If you ever need help with studying, I can try tutoring you." Peter offers up with a kind smile. 

Nagisa responds in kind, "Thank you very much for the offer, Peter." 

"Don't worry about it! Now, I have Physics first too, so even though it's AP instead, it's in the same section, so I can take you there. All the science classes are held in the same wing, actually, so your Biology class will be there too." 

They walk to the Science Wing with Peter pointing out various important and/or interesting places and facts like the cafeteria and even mentioning that they had lunch at the same time and should meet up, making Nagisa almost feel welcome. Knowing all the little tidbits makes the school seem so much more personal. 

"Well, here we are," Peter gestures at the closed door. "We actually still have a few more minutes until your teacher should arrive, so if you want we can go see where your Bio class will be held. You'd need to show me the classroom number, though." 

Nagisa nods, "If it's not too much trouble." 

"Of course not! C'mon, then."

* * *

Nagisa hates being the center of attention. It makes his skin crawl and his body tense up. His (<strike>naturally born killer</strike>) instincts bristle and his breathing quickens.

While his time with his beloved Assassination Classroom nurtured his self confidence and helped ease the social anxiety, he still prefers being in the background.

No one ever pays attention to the one in the corner and that suits Nagisa just fine, if anything he prefers it, even. It just means he can observe without any distractions.

He doesn't have any choice this time, though- doesn't have the ability to hide in a corner when he's standing in the front of the classroom.

"We have a transfer student that will be joining us. Would you like to introduce yourself?" The teacher, a somewhat stern looking woman, Mrs. Warren suggests in the type of tone that means you don't actually have a choice.

Nagisa's polite smile doesn't falter, even as he feels like a grimace was more appropriate. He looks over the crowds of students sitting in groups, all of them looking mostly bored but there is a flicker of interest in their gaze when their eyes rest on him.

"My name is Nagisa Shiota, I am originally from Japan. Its nice to meet you!" **_It's not. _**

"Are there any questions for the new student?" A few hands go up, "No? Good. Let's continue with our subject. Nagisa, your seat is over there next to Mr. Smith."

Nagisa scans the classroom for "Mr. Smith" and finds a blond boy waving in the group on the left side of the room. Nagisa hurries over to the empty chair and quickly pulls out the empty notebook and a pen.

"Hi, I'm Jake Smith, it's nice to meet you!" The boy greets with a sunny grin which Nagisa returns with a smile of his own.

In the background the teacher begins her lesson and the two students shift their focus to the front, hurriedly scribbling down notes and copying what is being written on the blackboard.

* * *

The tray makes a shallow thump and Peter sighs deeply. Today had been incredibly tiring- much more difficult than it really has any reason to be. It doesn't help that his body is sore from patrol the night before and that he really didn't get enough sleep due to it. 

He sits down heavily and Ned looks up from his phone, "Rough night, Peter?" 

"Yeah..." He pokes the disgusting cafeteria food on his tray, not too keen on eating it but knowing he has no other option with his metabolism. 

"What did you do this time, loser?" Michelle Jones had found out his biggest secret rather quickly, but it wasn't a surprise, really. Peter was immensely proud and shocked he'd kept the secret as long as he had- but then they weren't as close back then, either. 

He was even more shocked when she had not only promised to keep his identity hidden, but also offered to teach him to "actually lie convincingly" so that "not every moronic monkey" could connect the dots. 

"I stayed out a little late, but I swear I was already heading back! There was a woman that needed my help, though, and I couldn't really ignore that!" MJ concedes with a nod shifting her attention back to her book and putting a forkful of cafeteria-grade salad in her mouth. 

"Well, I'm sure your aunt understood, Pete," Ned grins at his best friend sitting opposite of him. He had always thought that it was really cool the brunet has powers and that he uses them for good. He takes his job as Spider-man's self-proclaimed "Guy in the Chair" very serious, even though he only helped with some of Peter's more difficult missions. 

"I wasn't actually at the apartment..." 

Ned furrows his brow and looks questioningly at the vigilante. MJ looks up and tilts her head, "Where were you then?" 

"At the Tower. Dr. Banner has a distant relative that is now staying with the Avengers because of some custody thing and Aunt May let me stay the night since I'm supposed to help him at school." 

Ned's eyebrows raise to the hairline, "A distant relative?" 

"Yeah, his name is Nagisa; he's from Japan." Peter turns around to look for said teen, spots him looking around, a little puzzled and Peter is quick to stand up and wave to catch his attention. "Speaking of, there he is!" 

Nagisa smiles and hurries over to their table, though he does slow down slightly when he spots the two other occupants. 

"Hello, Peter," he greets as he sets his own tray down next to Peter's. He smiles politely at the other teens. 

"Guys, this is Nagisa Shiota. Nagisa, these are my best friends, Ned and MJ." He points toward each as he introduces them to him. 

"Hey, it's so nice to meet you! Peter said you moved here?" Leave it to Ned to enthusiastically break any ice first meetings may make. 

The newcomer nods, "It's nice to meet you, as well. Yes, Bruce had agreed to take me in and has temporary guardianship."

"So you live in the Tower? How's it like? I know Peter goes there for his internship, but he never tells us anything." Ned grins at the smaller teen. His eagerness was nearly overwhelming and Nagisa unconsciously leans back slightly. 

MJ (<strike>fondly</strike>) rolls her eyes and comes to the bluenet's rescue, "Ned, slow down. You're too lively, loser."

Ned blushes and apologises. Nagisa sends the curly haired girl a grateful look before turning back to the chubby teen. "It's alright. And yes, I'm currently living in the Tower. It's very big, bright and modern, but otherwise it's normal, I suppose?"

"How are you settling in?"

"I'm settling in well, Tony and Bruce-Oji-san are very kind." On and on the inquiry went, asking the typical questions one would ask someone that moved recently. MJ is content to simply sit, eat and read her book. Peter sits and mostly listens to the conversation, though he does butt in on occasion to ask his own questions or to answer when Nagisa seemed uncomfortable or couldn't find the right words. He also shut down the inevitable question on _why_ one of the greatest scientists alive gained custody over the teenager.

"And what about school? Is it different from what you're used to?" Ned leans forward, lunch sack pushed to the side, now empty.

"Yes, it's very different. For one, we stay in our classroom and the teachers are the one to change rooms, and we do not have lockers, only shoe lockers. We also have uniforms." (*4) MJ paid close attention to his answer since cultural differences were always something she is interested in.

_Ring, ring! _

The four students get up, put their trays away and join the stream of other teenagers exiting the cafeteria.

"Let's meet up at your locker after school, okay?" Peter calls after Nagisa who nods and waves before disappearing into the crowd.

Now, to go to one of his least favourite subjects, Math. _**If only I had Karma's intellect...**_

* * *

Nagisa is (<strike>ridiculously</strike>) glad he was trained in the arts of assassination or he fears he might be crushed in the crowd rushing towards the freedom the students know lies just beyond the double doors.

It was the only reason he could fight against the stampede to reach his locker where he had agreed to meet with the intern. 

He finally reaches the metal container and unlocks it, though he does struggle a little with the combination. He has gotten better at entering it with the practice he had between blocks (<strike>he was almost late every block</strike>).

He closes the door and turns to keep watch on the hallway. He searches the crowd for the familiar mop of curly brown hair. Finally, as the hallway thins he catches sight of the taller teen.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Mr. Harrington wanted to speak to me about Decathlon." He scurries over to his own locker, quickly enters the combination with practiced ease and dumps the unnecessary things into the locker and gushes out what he _does_ need.

"Let's go, or Happy will be annoyed." He grabs Nagisa's hand and rushes towards the door. The blue-eyed boy stared at their connected hands with a shocked gaze before a small collision with another student knocked him out if the daze he fell into.

They slow down once they arrived at the stairs and calmly descend. They walk across the parking lot in the direction where they had been dropped off a couple hours ago. On the way they make an unfortunate encounter, however.

"Yo, Penis!" Peter grits his teeth at the familiar shout and continues their hurried march, though he now has to pull at Nagisa to move since the other stopped at the call. "Don't ignore me, Parker! I know you can hear me!"

"Peter.."

"No, just ignore him." Alas, it wasn't possible to ignore the bully when said bully steps in front of the two would be victims. To make matters worse, the athlete had some of his "friends" with him, the jocks had nasty smirks on their faces as they form a half circle around their prey.

Peter grimaces and moves slightly on front of his smaller friend, intend on shielding him. The teen in question frowns as he watches the harasser step forward and smirk obnoxiously.

"What's this? Is that your _girl__friend_, Penis?" The circle of underlings laugh unkindly.

"What do you want, Flash?" Peter doesn't raise to the bait, as usual, though he does have a harder time refraining this time. He typically has a shorter fuse when someone, mainly Flash, goes after one of his friends, but he can't afford to lose control and get angry- it's too dangerous. With his powers and abilities it would be laughably easy to break bones and even _kill_.

Spider-man is no killer.

"'What do I want?' Nothing. I just want to _talk_, we're friends, aren't we?" He slinks forward closer to his targets, a spiteful glint shining in his eyes.

"Peter?" Nagisa whispers. Peter shakes his head almost imperceptibly.

"And she speaks! Tell me, babe, what's your name? And why would you hang around that pathetic loser?" The former assassin flinches once he realises that the athlete had mistook him for a girl, memories (<strike>of his Mother</strike>) playing in front of his eyes.

"Flash-" Peter noticed his friend's unease and tries to gain back the bullies' attention only to get interrupted.

"Shut up, Parker! I'm not talking to you, am I?!" He snaps at the brunet. "Honestly, where do you get off interrupting? Or even more, lying?!"

Peter rolls his eyes. At first, it had bothered him that Flash didnt believe him or even accused him of lying to gain popularity, but he really doesn't care anymore. Its annoying more than anything, if Peter is being honest.

He feels cold fingers tug at his left sleeve and he turns his head a bit to look at his companion. "Peter? Why does 'Flash' think you are lying?"

"What's this? Didn't you tell your girlfriend what a massive liar you are? How you still lie about having a Stark Internship, even after it's been proven false? Well, let me tell you, babe, you'd be better off dating someone with an actual internship, like me. I'm an intern at Hammer Tech, one of the greatest companies in the world." He reaches a hand towards Nagisa, intend on stroking his face, a flirty smile replacing his previous smirk.

Peter moves solidly in front of the bluenet, blocking him from view. Flash snarls, not at all pleased with the interference.

Nagisa is confused, however. "You are an intern, though?"

"Has he lied to you too, babe? I'm so sorry you had to deal with him. Do you want me to get rid of him for you? Then we can go eat a burger or something together, how does that sound?" He tilts to the side to look into his blue eyes directly. Jeers, taunts and catwhistles come from the surrounding jocks.

Just as Peter was going a step forward- angry Flash would use such nicknames without permission- the other teen backs away, eyes wide.

Peter is gently nudged to the side and Nagisa approaches the athlete. At first the brunet thought he was going to ditch him and go with Flash, but that wouldn't explain why the bully looks so scared.

Then, he heard the normally timid student speak. "'Get rid of him'? And how would you do that? You're too pathetic to be making such threats. Now step aside and let us pass. And don't bother any one of Peter's or mine friends." The voice was cold, mean in a way he never imagined he would ever hear Nagisa speak. Though he can not see the cerulean eyes, he knows they must be glaring at the group of boys circling them because they back off, eyes wide and faces pale.

His Spideysense begins to hum in the back of his head in the way it does when there's danger present but not directed at him.

Pale fingers grasp at a larger hand belong to their companion and pull him through the throng. Peter let's his friend continue pulling him, too shocked and dazed to protest- not that he would have if was fully aware of his surroundings.

_ **Just what was that, Nagisa?** _

* * *

* * *

* * *

AND THAT'S IT, CHAPTER TEN IS COMPLETED!!!! I never thought I'd get this far, tbh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *1: Fun Fact!! Japan doesn't actually sell a lot of breakfast cereals since they usually eat more savoury breakfasts, but Kellogg's is supposed to be pretty popular  
*2: I have absolutely no clue when Midtown actually starts, the only info I could find is that it ends at 2:45 pm  
*3: Happy's real name is Harold Joseph Hogan  
*4: According to Wikipedia and to what I know from anime


	11. Chapter Eleven- The First Suspicions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Sorry it took so fucking long, apparently I can't get my shit together even during the quarantine. 
> 
> Remember, if you have any requests for ships or just questions in general just comment (pls, I'm really lonely), also constructive criticism is always welcomed!

So, how was school?" Scott casually asks the pair of teens sitting a few chairs down the dinning table. He asks a question he's asked hundreds of times before to his darling daughter, Cassie, and doesn't really think about the possible weight it can carry.

It's just a simple question to him. 

Peter smiles nervously and stuffs a forkful of pasta into his mouth to give himself time to think. This wouldn't be a problem usually, but the scene that took place in the car lot after school has shaken him up and he's still in slight shock.

He still can't wrap his head around the fact that Nagisa- sweet, polite, innocent Nagisa- frightened a group of tough bullies so badly, they flinched away when he pushed the two of them through the crowd that parted fearfully for them. Like they didn't even want the bluenet to get too close, too terrified of letting him get too close. 

He glances over to the other teenager who is struggling slightly with getting the spaghetti to stay on the fork and had obviously not heard the man.

"Um, it was alright. Nothing too unusual, though I got my math quiz back." He finally settles with saying. He's not planning on mentioning the Incident, mostly because it sounds ridiculous even to him and if he hadn't bore witness to it himself, he would never have believed it. 

Besides, he may be thinking too deep into this. 

The aggressors aren't dumb, they're students at that school for a reason. They know that leaving physical evidence like bruises can connect them to the crime easily and then they'd be expelled. 

Midtown has a zero-tolerance policy, but also a independence policy, meaning as long as all the students are physically healthy and no crimes are being committed (<strike>at least, none that are reported</strike>) they're left to their own devices.

The more aggressive students take full advantage of this, of course. And part of that is making sure not to call attention to their 'operation'. 

Despite their reputations under the students, specifically the less popular ones, the group of bullies aren't all that physical. Name-calling, cyberbullying and verbal abuse are all fair game, but Peter knows of very few physical altercations. Even then, they consisted of pushes, shoves, a few stray punches and the rare kick or two.

The transfer students are always observed closely by the staff to make sure they 'settle in alright', so for a transfer student to leave school covered in bruises would definitely bring unwanted and unwelcome attention to all those they have been in contact with. 

Of course the group let them leave the circle. 

Peter shakes his head and represses the memory like he's done before with more... Unpleasant experiences (<strike>Uncle Ben, the Warehouse, the Plane</strike>).

"What grade did you get, ребенок паук.?" Natasha asks casually, breaking off a piece of garlic bread. (*1)

"I got an A! It really wasn't difficult, though. I don't know _what_ Mr. Brent was thinking, but -" Peter rambles on, the adults sharing an exasperated and amused look. He was a little subdued at the beginning of dinner- since they got back, actually- and they were getting worried that something had happened at school.

Bruce turns away from the excitable teen to look at the one he's currently in charge of. He watches Nagisa for a moment and feels a warm feeling deep down in his heart. His lips twitch, a giddy grin begging to be released. "How was _your_ first day, Nagisa?"

A few of the others perk up and glance over to the duo, Peter continues his tirade, though it's slowly changing into a scientific discussion- not really a surprise considering how important science is in their relationship- with Tony.

Nagisa swallow his mouthful and smiles at his guardian, "It was different from what I am used to, but I liked it. Peter showed me around the school; we sat together at lunch and he introduced me to his friends. They were both very kind. The lockers are a bit difficult to figure out, though." He laughs sheepishly.

"Oh yeah; you didn't have lockers, did you? How was it?" Clint smirks teasingly at the student.

Nagisa blushes and averts his eyes, eliciting indulgent chuckles from those watching the interactions. Thor's booming laughter silences the now intense discussion about parallel universes that Peter's and Tony's conversation _somehow _derailed into.

"What's going on, Pointbreak?" Ever the curious scientist and social butterfly, Tony wants to know what was going on.

Peter feels compelled to watch the other teen with a careful eye when his wary spidersense nudges him rather forcefully.

Gray eyes narrow when the ex-assassin takes note of the tension running through Peter's lithe muscled frame, of the caution in his gaze. It's obvious _something_ had happened in school, but neither teenager is bringing it up.

The Winter Soldier surges up at the sudden irritation that sparks in his chest; he fights against him, not yet ready to relinquish control to him.

_Oh_, how Bucky hates stubborn people, they make gathering information so _difficult_.

But he can be patient, oh so patient (<strike>HYDRA made sure of that</strike>).

* * *

Peter sits on his bed going over school day and making a mental list on what he still has to do homework and project wise.

Inevitably, the Incident keeps nagging at his mind almost obnoxiously. He bites at his right thump in deep thought.

His head snaps up as someone knocks on his door. Peter frowns, who could it be?

Mr. Stark had retreated back to his Workshop after dinner and wouldn't be seen in at least a couple of hours.

Bruce had gone to the lab a floor above the Workshop and also wouldn't be seen as he had said he would be working on finding a more _effective_ medicine for the supersoldiers and super teens living in the Tower.

The others don't make it a habit to bother him when he's in his room, not unless there was something planned and they were getting him for it.

"C-Come in!" He stutters in his shock, brows furrowed in confusion. His door opens slowly to reveal a stone faced James "Bucky" Barnes.

He prowls over to the bed and gestures to it, a clear sign that he wants to sit but will only do so with Peter's permission.

Peter nods, slightly nervous. He's rarely ever been around Bucky without any other adult and every time he has, it turned stilted and awkward, any attempt at lightening the mood with conversation often just making the situation worse.

"Happy said he'll be ready to drive you home in ten or so minutes," Bucky informs the teen as he settles down on the red and dark blue covers on the queen size bed.

"Really? I-Is that the reason you came here?" Part of him hopes that it _is_, but something tells him it isn't. He gulps when his eyes catch the intense gaze of the supersoldier.

"No, but I think you already know that." Peter is frozen to his spot, his spideysense is starting to prickle and the hairs on the back of his neck start to rise.

"Then why are you here?"

"Something happened at school," It wasn't a question so much as a statement. It was said with such a tone like one would use to tell someone else an obvious fact, such as the sky being blue or grass being green.

"Wh-What? N-No, it didn't." Despite having convinced himself nothing _really_ happened at school, he doesn't actually _sound_ convinced.

"Cut the crap, kid. What happened?" The gray eyes narrow, the steely look in them telling Peter he couldn't wiggle (<strike>clumsily, as always</strike>) his way out of this one.

"Y-You'll have to be more specific, Mr. Bucky Barnes, Sir." Peter tries to stall, though he has no idea why. He doesn't know why he feels the inane sense of protectivness where the small bluenet is concerned. Regardless of the reason, he does and he's not sure he should tell the other brunet about the Incident. 

Bucky frowns at the teenager, frustration bubbling up from within, again. After decades of having to maintain a ironclad control over his feelings while being tortured and enslaved made it difficult to control them now- now when he doesn't have to keep a tight lid on them. He works hard with his therapist to regulate and process his emotions and thoughts, but it's a hard and long journey that's only just begun. 

"Something happened that involved Nagisa. You tensed when Scott asked if anything occurred at school and sent fugitive glances at him," He elaborates reluctantly and robotically, a hint of his past shinning through his blank expression that now covers his face. "Obviously, something is wrong. I ask again, what happened?" 

Peter looks away, torn between his loyalty to the Avengers and the abrupt sense of protective affection and the tiny bud of trust growing for Nagisa. 

After a short bout of silence where the fierce eyes of the ex-assassin bore into the vigilante who's eyes stay averted. A heavy sigh breaks the incredibly (<strike>at least in Peter's opinion</strike>) uncomfortable quiet that threatened to suffocate the two males.

Bucky rises (<strike>he knows when to push and when to pull back</strike>) and stalks back to the door.

Peter sags and closes his eyes, the _woosh!_ of the door opening unnaturally loud in the hush that had descended viciously upon them.

"Wait," Peter calls out weakly, but Bucky easily hears it with his enhanced hearing. "There was something a little unusual that happened on the parking lot with some jocks that were being major jerks. Nagisa scared them off, but that was it. It's not that strange, either! Physical confrontations are pretty rare in my school!"

Bucky smiles faintly, prosthetic hand clutching the doorframe.

"Thank you, Peter." The gratitude is whispered quietly, but Peter hears it like it was yelled directly into his sensitive ears.

It feels like a slap to his face, but the pain is nothing compared to the pain caused by the guilt eating away at his conscious. Peter knows these feelings are mostly irrational- he has only known the other teen for a few days- but he can't help it.

_ **I'm sorry.** _

* * *

Nagisa sits down at the lunchroom table with Peter's friends, setting down the lunchbox in front of him. He had asked Bruce-Oji-san if he could make himself a bento yesterday afternoon and had been granted permission by both his guardian and the owner of the Tower. 

"Hey, Nagisa!" Ned greets with a grin. 

MJ looks up, gives the newcomer a acknowledging nod and goes back to reading her book, In the Shadow of Man (*2). 

Next to her Ned's eyes widen. He's never seen MJ look up at anyone unless they spoke to her before or are an authority figure, though even then it depends in her mood. To say he's surprised she acknowledged Nagisa without a word of sass or a glare would be the biggest understatement of the year- wait, strike that, the biggest understatement of the year involved Spider-man and a truck...- biggest understatement of the day. 

Nagisa smiles back, "Hello. How are you?" 

"Great! My mom got me a new Lego set and I was allowed to stay up to 11 pm to built it!" Ned continues to ramble and MJ keeps her nose deep in her book, eyes scanning the pages intently with a speed that would've frightened Nagisa if he hadn't spent all of last year being taught by a Mach 20 octopus. He hadn't thought a human- normal, fully human girl without any sort of enhancements or powers- could achieve such a speed, but this wouldn't be the first or last time he underestimated someone he barely knew (<strike>at least this didn't almost kill any of his friends</strike>).

Terrifying reading skills aside, the former E-Class student can definitely see why Peter and Ned get along so well. His smile strains as Ned continues to babble, sweat dropping in slight exasperation.

He clears his throat quietly; he hates cutting others off when they are talking (<strike>"A good **girl** _never_ interrupt someone else!" his mother's screeching echoes in his head</strike>), but he has a question he wants to ask the two friends regarding Peter. He doesn't want to ask when the one in question is around, so when Mr. Harris called him Bach and told him he wanted to meet with the brunet student to discuss his absences during decathlon practice Nagisa saw an opportunity that he probably can't afford to waste (<strike>he's a good assassin</strike>).

"I'm sorry for interrupting you," The bluenet apologises once the bigger boy tapers off, slight confusion written on his face and even the brunet girl looks up with one eyebrow arched, sensing that something is up. "After school yesterday, we were surrounded by a group of athletes- I'm assuming- one of which was verbally assaulting Peter. Is this common? For this school or for Peter especially?" 

The two friends share a heavy, solemn look before the decathlon team captain breathes out heavily through her nose, snapping her book closed and leans forward with a narrowed glare. The former assassin flinches back and gulps, slightly surprised at this sudden change in atmosphere. 

"Did the idiot respond to Flash?" Nagisa feels like he is being interrogated by the frankly intimidating female, which is not helped by the silent Ned watching with a grimace, like he is feeling pity for someone- and Nagisa has a horrible suspicion it is for him. 

Regardless, the teen killer represses the fear he feels and bravely looks into her dark brown eyes, making direct eyecontact. He nods. (<strike>He faced worse than this girl</strike>)

"Tch." MJ scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Typical. Yeah, Flash is a real asshole. He is jealous of the dork, and for good reason. Peter is nice, Flash is a dickhead. Peter is smart, Flash is an idiot who's never gonna get far in life and never would've gotten this far if it hadn't been for his Daddy's money. Peter is already successful with his Stark Internship, Flash has a shitty internship at Hammer Tech that'll never impress anyone later. In short, Flash is a jealous loser and takes out his frustrations on Peter, a someone with a lot of potential- who'd have _even more_ if he actually _came to practice_." Her vicious grin (<strike>sneer</strike>) turning into a frustrated scowl at the last part.

Ned eyes her with a great amount of confusion, fear and apprehension- feelings Nagisa shares- though agreement and appreciation are also expressed in the small smile tugging at his lips. The bluenet's eyes are widened, not having expected the sheer anger and ruthlessness; it is clear she did _not_ like this Flash.

Nagisa gathers his composure and he frowns, "I see... Have the teachers done anything to stop it?"

Ned shakes his head, "No. Peter never reports it, no matter how bad it gets. He says he can handle it and that he'd rather be the target than someone who couldn't. But. But, I'm not too sure that's true. He, well, he's a little less happy at school than he used to be. I-I'm worried about him." He gnaws on his sandwich, worry clear on his face.

MJ sneers silently, glare burning a metaphorical hole in her book cover displaying Jane Goodall and a baby chimpanzee holding hands.

She takes a savage bite off her carrot stick.

_Crack!_

* * *

Nagisa struggles with the chemistry problem, not having any problems with understanding the overall topic in chemistry itself, but rather with understanding the text problem. He tilts his head, utterly confused with what the book is asking of him. (*3)

"Need help?" 

Blue eyes flick up to meet with kind brown. Bruce smiles warmly at his nephew (?), who returns it with a pinched one. He chuckles and sits down on the chair next to the teen at the dining table on their private floor when said teen gives a timid nod. 

Nagisa likes the big open windows with the busy view of the Big Apple and likes watching the streams of people- mere pinprick dots at this height- go about their life. 

"What do you need help with?" The hero gently prods at the troubled student. 

"I understand the topic in chemistry, but I don't understand this problem." 

"Chemistry? Well, you're in luck. I happen to be fairly competent in that field," he jokes absentmindedly. He hums as he reads the text problem, "What don't you understand about this problem?" 

"I don't know what these three words mean and this part is a little confusing," he taps at the said text sections. 

"Oh, I see... Okay, let me think for a second. Do you know what Gibbs free energy is?" 

Nagisa nods, "Yes, it's a formula for thermodynamics." 

"Right, so..." 

Bucky peels his body off the wall and walks back to the exit, the voices of the two family members echoing of the walls, seeming to haunt the ex-assassin.

He's taken to spying on their newest guest, as hesitant as he may be to admit it. However, that teen raised a few red flags and triggered his hard earned instincts to just let him have free, unlimited access to their personal- private- areas without making Bucky rather uneasy. 

He steps into the elevator that had opened without a word. The metal cabin soundlessly and seamlessly moves down the chute, stopping on the 91st floor. 

He walks out and heads towards the changing room connected to the gym- his intended destination. 

A few minutes later he walks out, hair in a bun, fists covered in boxing tape and neutral expression concealing the storm of emotions happening inside- concealing the brutal war of suspicions and morals. 

But not well enough. 

A certain redheaded agents discreetly watches him beating the re-enforced punching bag hanging in the left corner from the yoga mat she was stretching in impossible positions on. 

She narrows her eyes at him, sensing the malcontent in him.

* * *

Black eyes widen as the woman speaks on the phone, but the man has long since stopped paying attention; the voice of his superior a low background hum that fades as his hand falls in his shock.

His eyes dart over to the blonde woman lounging on his (<strike>their, they're together now _and he can't be here to see them together like he'd schemed since the moment she became part of the team, _**_dammit_**</strike>) couch.

She watches him intently, ice blue eyes concerned as she takes in his suddenly frightened (<strike>terrified</strike>) expression.

The message repeats itself in his mind, over and over and over and over _and over_.

"Prisoner 5927 of the Nanba High-Security Prison has escaped last night at 2348 hours. We have teams searching for him and we have alerted all local authorities in your current position, however _he_ has not been found yet. Notify the Class, they are the most likely target."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *1: According to Google Translate ребенок паук means baby spider, so yeah... I've always liked that little headcanon and I couldn't resist using it here, sorry..   
*2: In the Shadow of Man is a book about and written by a very famous female wild animal researcher, named Jane Goodall; the first researcher to study chimpanzees in their natural habitat.   
*3: Imma be honest, chemistry is NOT my forte and I do not attend an American school, so I just Googled what topics freshman chemistry covered. I tried looking up what Nagisa would've learned in Japan but frankly I was not up for reading through a thirty page research paper or a fifty page incohesive list of the entire educational experience for all of middle school.


	12. Chapter Twelve- The AcaDec Pratice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, y'all!
> 
> Notice the new title and description yet??? I wanted to try something new, let me know if you like it!! I'll probably continue messing with the description tho since I'm not 100% happy with it, ngl...

_**TRIGGER WARNINGS:**_ _**hinted at abuse, hinted at misgendering, unknowing present misgendering**_

* * *

* * *

* * *

Nagisa yawns, left hand covering his mouth and right hand holding his backpack strap. Originally it had been very awkward for Nagisa to constantly use a backpack for his school stuff because he's so used to the handheld bag he had in middle school. The closest thing to the backpack that he can remember ever having was his red randoseru (*1), but even that is vastly different from his cheaply made cloth backpack.

He shakes his head in an effort to wake himself a little and steps into the elevator after it arrived on his current floor. He had severely underestimated the workload his school gives its students and the material that needs to be learned for exams.

Logically, he's doing very well. All assignments are finished _way_ before their due date, but Nagisa has a nagging fear of falling behind again like he did in Kunugigaoka, so he forces himself to finish all assignments the day or days following they're given.

This is not only stressful but leaves little time to socialise and have fun. Really, the only ones he has had constant contact with over the two weeks is Peter who's been helping him and Bruce-Oji-san, to no surprise. He did manage to squeeze in a bit of time every two days to call his old class and has even had time to videocall them last night, which went way beyond his bedtime and is the main cause for his current exhaustion.

He sighs, a warm smile tugging at his lips and a happy hum resounding in the elevator. He truly was happy to have seen everyone again.

Suddenly, he frowns and his eyebrows dip down. He remembers Karasuma-sensei calling him last week's Monday, telling him the terrible news.

The assassin spent the entire week tense and looking over his shoulder every once in a while; he'd also strapped more weapons on his person than he had in the first week.

Even now he feels the weight of his metal dagger placed on his left upper arm, hidden by the dark green sweatshirt, and hard plastic knife strapped to his right thigh, accessible through a hole in his jean pocket digging into his soft skin. In his left ankle boot is his Swiss army knife and in his right one are a few rounds of Antisensei BBs, the matching gun held in place in the small of his back. There's a collapsible bat in his bag for heavier attacks, as well as a bundle of rope for restraints. A small taser was also thrown in for good measure.

All in all, he's ready for _him_.

He walks out of the elevator once he's smoothed out his expression and heads toward the kitchen for a slice of toast and some jam. He's discovered he actually quite likes blackberry jam and often switches between toast and cereal in the mornings, but sometimes he wishes he could have a more traditional Japanese breakfast. He doesn't want to bother the other residents for some childish wishes and nostalgic whims, though, so he says nothing and continues eating his breakfasts without complaint. (<strike>Koro-sensei taught his students to be grateful for any and all food, _an assassin can't afford to be too picky, afterall_</strike>)

He pauses in the doorway, eyes widening slightly at the sight of the redheaded woman sitting at the kitchen island, dressed smartly in a white blouse and black business skirt, a black suit jacket hanging on the stool's back. A Starkpad is in her left hand, the delicate, thin fingers of her right hand tapping away at the screen.

From the angle from where he stands he can't see her face, but he _can_ tell by her posture that she is frustrated. As if to prove his point, she puts down the electronic to grab the mug with a gently steaming drink swirling in the white ceramic at the movement; her right hand continues to tap away, however. She takes a sip, lowers the mug and sighs heavily, her right hand stopping to message her forehead.

Nagisa takes a step forward into the modern kitchen and clears his throat, "Hello." His voice is soft and he keeps his expression friendly.

Regardless of his quiet greeting the woman hears him and she jumps, turning to the boy. Her blue eyes widen in shock before narrowing back to their original shape at the sight of the teen in the kitchen.

Her painted lips quirk up in a small smile and she greets the student back. She gestures towards a free stool, "Please sit."

Nagisa nods and walks over, grabbing a roll from the bread basket on his way, relaxed in the woman's gently commanding aura. Anyone would know that this is a powerful woman with a lot of status and influence even without knowing who she is, though of course he does know.

Pepper Potts is an Idol for many of his classmates, both girls and boys, and Nagisa himself respects her immensely.

"You are Nagisa, correct?" She smiles at him, eyes flickering back to the Starkpad and right hand absentmindedly writing a reply to a board member.

"Yes and you are Miss Pepper Potts," It wasn't a question, not really.

Her smile widens before being hidden behind the rim of her mug. "How have you been settling in?"

He assures her he's been settling in well and tears off pieces from his bread to pop into his mouth whenever he has to pause to think of the words he doesn't know/remember or how to phrase certain sentences.

All the while the Acting CEO patiently listens, sipping contentely from her mug, not caring that her coffee had slightly cooled down.

After a while Natasha slips into the room and saunters over to the fridge, opening it and taking out the butter before going to the pantry for the toast.

Nagisa continues his conversation with the business woman, seemingly unaware of the spy's presence like Pepper truly is.

Truthfully, he realised her presence since she's stepped into the kitchen and has been observing her from the corner of his observant blue eyes, tension returning to his limbs. The fact that she probably stood outside the door to watch their interaction unnerved him, especially since he has no idea for how long she had stayed hidden.

"Miss Natasha, the jam is in the other cabinet," he calls over when he notices her rummaging through the pantry. He's switched the -san for 'Miss' or 'Mister' because the suffix made the Avengers uncomfortable, but he was uneasy at the too casual (<strike>rude</strike>) address, so he compromised.

While the ex-agent doesn't visibly startle, but she does freeze before smoothly moving on to the cabinet Nagisa pointed out. She hadn't realised the boy knew she was there. Very few people can sense her presence when she doesn't actively want them to and her eyes narrow in suspicion, reaction hidden by her red hair.

Only people who have a specific, _peculiar_ skill set can detect her- a skill set a middle school student _shouldn't_ possess.

Pepper, on the other hand, jumps and hurriedly slams her mug onto the kitchen island when the still warm coffee nearly spilled on her expensive, designer business suit. She stands up and whirls over to where Natasha now sits on the marble counter, one hand holding a butter knife spreading the strawberry jam onto the toast held in her other hand.

The former assassin raises a meticulously trimmed eyebrow at the other woman, amused by her surprise even though she is irked by the student's indifference.

"What are you two chatting about?" She lays the knife down by the sink and bites into her breakfast; for all intentions and purposes completely casual and laid back, the question just asked for small talk.

Pepper's brow furrows, recognising the false pretence having often dealt with such tactics in meetings, but she plays along. Even though she is not an actual Avenger, she trusts them to know what they're doing and so often defers to their judgement (<strike>when they're not being absolute idiots</strike>). "We're just talking about Nagisa's move and how he's been settling in. He was just telling me about how Mrs. Endo had suggested he join a club."

The blue twin ponytails sway as he nods and he swallows the last of his bread roll. "I'm not sure which one to join, though. Peter said I could join the Academic Decathlon Team practice to watch, but I'm not sure if that's something I'll be good at, " he rubs his neck sheepishly. 

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, Nagisa," Pepper assures him, perfect white teeth flashing in an encouraging smile. "Tony has told me you've engaged the resident Science Trio in a little discussion a few times before and your English is very fluent! The Team would be lucky to have you." Her eyes crinkle with her smile before her lips suddenly tug down when a notification lit up the screen of her Starkpad. 

"Is everything alright, Miss Pepper?" 

The red-haired woman waves his worries away, still typing away at an almost dizzying pace. 

Natasha glances over to the clock hanging over the doorway, originally put there for Steve's sake, and notes the time. She turns her head over to the boy, eyeing him for a moment to see if he realises that his time to leave is quickly approaching. 

She sighs softly and clears her throat almost delicately to gain his attention. He looks up and his polite gaze flicks up to the clock when she gestures up at it with a nod. 

He gets up, swiftly cleans his seat and counter place of crumbs, grabs a strap from his backpack and lifts it to settle it over his shoulders. 

Serious blue eyes gaze up from the screen they were focusing on seconds before and soften a little. "Have a good day at school, Nagisa." Her tone is kind, warm and friendly, and the teen has to stop himself from flinching at the faintly motherly attitude (<strike>Mother only used that tone when she was teetering on the knife's edge</strike>). 

Sharp green eyes catch on the tension thrumming through the slender, lithe body.

* * *

Peter glances at the students as they walk through the halls towards the classroom MJ booked for their practice.

Lately, Peter noticed, the other students have given him, Ned and MJ a wide berth, which isn't unusual in itself- Peter and Ned aren't exactly popular and MJ has a reputation of taking no shit from anyone, least of all dumm peers. And she considers a lot of her peers to be dumm.

But, the way they'd part for them _now_ is _different_. Peter has noticed the crowd glancing at them from the corner of their eyes, almost as if they were too afraid to look at them directly, but too uncomfortable not to keep tabs on them.

It gets worse when Nagisa hangs around them.

_That's_ when the crowds part like the red sea, carefully maintaining a respectable distance. Even Flash has stopped bothering their little group, which Peter is still trying to get used to. He hasn't felt this free since he started attending this school! Not even the harsh glares the bully throws at them and the occasional aggressive gesture could dampen his mood.

Now, after a whole week of no torment, the novelty has started to wear off and he's growing suspicious instead.

Peter watches as Flash flinches back when he sees Nagisa walking into the classroom MJ booked for AcaDec practice close behind him and feels his suspicions grow.

He sits next to Ned, as always, at the end of the table and he hears his newest friend follow.

MJ smirks briefly at the blue haired boy before addressing the team, "This is-"

"Nagisa Shiota!" Charles calls out, interrupting the team captain. The girl isn't surprised considering the way the dork had started practically _vibrating_ in excitement at the sight of them.

The others lean in, obviously interested in the newcomer, though Flash noticeably does not- in fact, he leans _back_.

MJ shoots the boy a light glare and continues, "Yes, and he's here to observe our practice. Mrs. Endo suggested he join a club and as the losers' friend he chose to observe our's first."

Nagisa smiles and greets them with a soft "Hello."

"Nagisa, you're famous! With the whole scare thing and the-" Charles rambles, quickly getting over MJ's light scolding, but Ned, Peter and Nagisa stop listening.

"I'm famous?"

"Nagisa is _what_?" Peter couldn't believe his ears- excellent his hearing may be- because Nagisa usually has such a low presence and typically keeps quiet. He didn't think he'd get _any_ reputation, neither good or bad; the only thing he'd get attention for are his circumstances and transfer.

"More like _in_famous, really," Cindy adds helpfully. Well, maybe not so helpfully afterall, because Peter still can't quite wrap his head around this new fact.

"Yeah! I was really surprised when I heard you stood up to both Flash _and_ his posse of jocks, alone!" Betty enthuses. She never really liked Flash even before she got to know the Notorious Trio- still mostly referred to as the Duo because MJ is a recent addition and quite frankly she holds a fearsome influence on both the Academic Decathlon Team and the entire Student Body.

No one wants to incur her wrath, which has actually drastically decreased the instances that the Duo got bullied, but she can't escort them everywhere and certain _someones_ exploit that fact.

Anyways, Betty doesn't like bullies and Flash is a Grade A Jerk.

Speaking of, Peter looks over to the aforementioned blond and sees that he's scowling at the table of students but he's not saying anything, either. It's clear he's annoyed but when he opens his mouth- obviously to complain and/or to threaten violence- he glances to the end of the table and shuts his mouth, instead choosing to merely glare at Betty.

Betty, who sees the bully looking at the newcomer with a certain amount of fear, smiles, utterly pleased. She's usually not so vindictive, but every now and then she enjoys seeing the ego of an asshole get taken down a few notches.

"You've even gained a nickname!" Abe exclaims like it's something normal- though he's also grinning gleefully, so maybe he knows it's not.

Poor Nagisa looks so confused; Peter can relate. "I have?"

"You didn't know? You've become something of a legend in school what with all of your vigilante antics."

Peter tenses at last two words, can't really help it. Whenever that one particular word pops up in conversation, he goes rigid and awkwardly tries to change the subject. "'Vigilante antics'?"

But not this time. No, this time he's too curious.

Charles nods rapidly while Nagisa looks oddly distressed, "Yeah! Everyone knows how she defended you-" _They do? Wait,_ _**she**__?_ "But Nagisa also intervenes whenever she sees someone else being bullied! Lots of the bullies have been dealt with massive blows to their rep already and Marcus in grade 11 has even been suspended for a week because Nagisa caught him messing with the mute boy in grade 12!" (*2)

Peter and Ned whip their heads around to stare at the bluenette, complete shock and bewilderment painting their faces, "You got _Marcus_ in trouble?!"

"I'm not- Yes? It wasn't very difficult, to be honest. He mostly did it to himself, really," he waves their astonishment off like it's not a big deal even though it _is_. Conveniently he forgets the misgendering, mostly choosing to focus on his new friends (<strike>he's used to it and can ignore it with practiced ease</strike>).

Marcus Hasborne is related to some really rich people- millionaire rich. His family's pockets are lined with literal _gold_ and they know how to use their wealth to its limits. Mainly, they donate (<strike>bribe</strike>) the schools their children attend after they've been (<strike>forcibly</strike>) accepted so that the administers are more likely to "turn a blind eye" or to give their children a "warning" instead of serious punishments. Most schools are perfectly happy with this arrangement and the ones that aren't can't do anything because they fear retaliation, money and/or law wise.

Peter dislikes the guy for just this reason; those kind of rich people make actual philanthropist like Mister Stark- who makes sure all of his employees make good money, have plenty of vacation days and just generally work in humane conditions, as well as spends millions of his own money on trustworthy charities- seem in genuine. (*3)

So, for Nagisa to get Marcus _suspended_ for a _week_ when the school never even gave him a detention before? It's beyond impressive.

"I'm more interested in my nickname, I haven't heard of this before?" He tilts his head at Charles questioningly, oblivious to the red blush on the other boy's cheeks.

MJ clears her throat pointedly and everyone jumps, having completely forgotten she is there. She raises a brow in silent judgement and there's a sudden flurry of movement and noise as everyone gets ready for the practice.

* * *

The sky is covered in the dark gray of the City's night and even the deafening hubub of the busy streets has quieted.

The night gives way to colder temperatures and cerulean blue eyes watch as their breath raises in a misty cloud after it had condensated.

Nagisa feels a smile tugging at his lips and he allows it to form a small grin, feeling completely relaxed after his hour long parkour run.

He tilts his head up and tries to see some stars but fails when he only sees the muggy dark gray veil of light pollution.

His feet swing merrily where they are hundreds of feet over the ground, his left hand gripping loosely at the ledge of the skyscraper he climbed up during his run.

"-ma-kun, no! Why would you even suggest that?" He huffs into the receiver of his phone.

"I'm just saying, Nagisa-chan, I'm sure the World's Mightiest Heroes can handle a couple of pranks!" The ever childish and mischievous voice of Nagisa's favorite person croons and the former Class 3-E student can clearly imagine the impish grin stretching ear to ear on his pale face, enhancing the roguish features handsomely.

He sighs fondly, "They've done so much for me, Karma-kun, I can't just prank them! Especially not with what you were suggesting, those ideas are just too cruel!"

There's silence for a few precious moment, only breathing audible on both sides. The elite assassin revels in the quiet and peace of this night, feeling all of the stress and anxiety that had colored every waking moment a blaring red and deadly ice blue melt away, quickly replaced with a warmth in his chest. A warmth that reminds him of lovingly made hot chocolate, protective hugs and fiercely dedicated loyalty.

Tentatively- or as tentatively as the mischief maker (<strike>the ever confident genius</strike>) can be- Karma jokes, "Koro-sensei put up with worse pranks and it didn't damage him _too much_."

Another beat of silence- this silence is sufficating in its reminders of better days long gone, never to return again no matter how hard Class 3-E tries (<strike>but by the gods do they try to get just _one more_ taste of that devoted love of true mentorship</strike>).

Then suddenly, so suddenly Nagisa nearly jumps right off the rooftop in shock, only his left hand's grip saving him from becoming an unappealing pancake, they burst out laughing.

And if there's tears of sorrow mingling with tears of laughter, well, the City won't speak a word of it.

The City will keep this secret and the City will make sure no one harms its newest (<strike>broken</strike>) citizen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *1: a randoseru is a firm-sided backpack made of stitched firm leather or leather-like synthetic material, most commonly used in Japan by elementary schoolchildren; traditionally they came in only two colors red (for girls) and black (for boys), but there are slight changes to the design nowadays! I chose red bc of Nagisa's Mother... 
> 
> *2: Marcus Hasborne is a small, irrelevant OC, sorry to any Marcuses that may be reading this for naming an asshole after you :(
> 
> *3: Please note that Peter is a little biased, tho I do believe Tony would take good care of his employees (at least better than other major companies *cough, Amazon, cough*)


	13. Chapter Thirteen - The Game Night

** _TRIGGER WARNING: _ ** _ **panic attack/flashback** _ ** _, description of injuries (not graphic)_ **

* * *

* * *

* * *

Bruce frowns as he walks back to the elevator. 

He'd gone up to ask Nagisa if he wanted to join the group for Game Night. He was busy the last two weeks with school related stuff and pretty much kept to himself in his bedroom. Not that there is anything wrong with focusing on school- the opposite, really- but Bruce worries that he's been pushing himself too much.

It's only been two weeks, afterall.

At least his nephew has the support of Peter who studies with him whenever he visits and has time to. The kind boy has even managed to coax him into taking a few breaks to play some more video games with him.

Still, the blue haired boy stays distant and quiet- now even more quiet than when he first came. He's not shy anymore, but nevertheless reserved and almost sad.

Of course that's also understandable- expected more like- since his mother hasn't been dead for more than a month yet, but it seems that more than her death is weighing on him. 

Maybe the way the move uprooted everything he knows bothers him more than he let's on? Does he miss his father despite the alleged abuse?

That doesn't feel quite right, though. Bruce can't describe it, that gut feeling, but it just feels like more.

He settles down next to Thor and shakes his head when Rhodey raises an eyebrow in question.

"Maybe he doesn't want to get beaten by a genius in Monopoly," Tony teases while he casually shrugs his shoulders.

"I beat you last time, Tony," Natasha fires back, but it's not serious- just some good old ribbing. Predictably, this leads to Tony huffing and the other Avengers are drawn into a light hearted argument. 

They settle on playing Uno. Bruce should habe know it was a bad idea, considering what happened last time. 

"So he doesn't want to join us?" Scott, on Bruce's other side, asks him absentmindedly, paying more attention to the antics playing in front of him than to the doctor's answer.

"No, he wasn't even in his room," Bruce shakes his head, concern pulling down the corners of his lips.

Bucky looks over to them, "He's not here?"

"JARVIS said he left shortly after dinner."

Thor looks surprised, "Why did young Nagisa leave so soon? Does he not know tonight is Game Night?"

"I asked JARVIS why he left, but Nagisa only told him he'll be back soon," he tries to ignore the worry building up inside. He was a teenager, too, once and he knows that sometimes freedom is a necessity in their development. "And yes, I let him know yesterday."

"When will he be back?" Bucky's voice is even, but those that know him well can tell he's not too happy with this disappearance.

Bruce shrugs. Worry is starting to shift into fear.

Nagisa is a frail thing; pale, skinny, painful polite and not used to New York City's harsh streets. Nights are always worse too with the 'regular' people home and the less respectable people lurking in the darkness, bolder and more likely to strike than during the day.

"Don't worry so much, Bucky," Scott dismisses the other's suspicions, "He's a teenager. All teens want a little bit of freedom every now and then, I know I did."

"I did too, but these streets are a little dangerous, aren't they? I mean, with all the drugs, muggers, the-" Bruce is working himself up into a tizzy and are his hands shaking? That hasn't happened in a long, long time. 

The room is spinning slightly and Hulk is grumbling in the back of his mind. 

"Worry not, Friend Bruce, I'm sure your nephew can take of himself. When I was around his age, in Asgardian Time, I was taking down herds of Gleipnir (*1) with my friends!" Thor pats his friend's back, harsher than he meant to.

"Besides, the boy is smart," Tony places a 'Draw 2' card on the pile, leading to Clint pouting. "He strikes me as the type of person who can hold his own when it comes down to it, or at the very least he can escape whatever trouble he stumbles onto." 

Bruce nods, slowly relaxing back into the couch. It's true that Nagisa is surprisingly good at maintaining peace, so he should be able to talk random thugs into letting him go and it's true that Nagisa is suspiciously good at going unnoticed which means he probably won't even need to outsmart whatever evildoers he encounters in the first place. 

Hulk agrees, **_Little One is clever._**

"I'm more worried about his school. Today's a Wednesday," Steve draws four cards after giving Sam a dirty look. 

"Relax, Cap. Nagisa does all of his homework the day he gets it and he studies the rest of the time," Clint shrugs, "I was getting worried he'd overwork himself, honestly." 

"Yeah, the kid would go up to help him whenever he hits a roadblock in his Web research," Tony nods along, putting down a yellow 8. 

Tony admires the Tower's newest resident for his drive, but even he is feeling a smidgeon of concern which is a new feeling for him- he doesn't really like kids (<strike>_Liar_, Peter is very important to him)</strike> so much because he doesn't know what to do with them. 

Over the last few weeks, he'd grown fond of the boy. He was smart- it isn't born intellect but earned knowledge which Tony honestly prefers because that usually means interesting discussions and anecdotes used as examples- and would sometimes engage in scientific discussions with the resident Science Trio, though it was usually only a few comments. 

Not to mention the kind way he treated all of Tony's inventions. He knows his teammates don't understand his obsession in handling his electronics with care (<strike>they all have AIs, they all have their own personalities</strike>), but they still try to respect that part of him by gently coaxing the machines to do their jobs instead of screaming at them whenever they're frustrated. 

Nagisa, however, seems to truly understand that his inventions aren't just machines, though. 

Tony draws a card, "Also, the Furry King and his genius sister are coming to visit in a few weeks." 

Steve lightly smacks the billionaire's head while Clint and Scott snicker. 

A single "Uno." from Rhodey cuts through the light conversation, replacing it with screeches and complaints.

* * *

Clint feels stupid, being brought down to his knees in the staircase belonging to the Avengers' Floors, but here he is. 

Struggling to breathe and a horrible ringing echoing in his ears. 

He's not entirely certain what triggered this panic attack- he had been doing just fine a few minutes ago. He wanted to climb up the stairs in order to wake himself up a little after he nearly fell asleep during Game Night because he still needed to finish his report for his surveillance on the Japanese Government for Fury. 

(Apparently they were hiding something and Fury wanted to know what it is. The whole 'Tentacle Alien' probably has something to do with it, but Clint doesn't have the clearance to access that particular piece of information.) 

But a flash of gold and green in the corner of his eyes had caught his attention while he walks upstairs alone and he keeled over. 

He has backed against the corner- he makes sure no one can sneak up on him (<strike>not again, not after what happened</strike>)- and curls up, protecting his chest so that cold, cold scepter can't pierce him and poisen his mind again. He tries to tell himself it won't happen again, will never happen again because the scepter is broken and Loki is gone and Thor _promised_-

"Mr Clint?" The soft whisper is lost in the ringing in his ears. Through his blurry vision he sees a pair of legs walking ever closer; the only reason he doesn't panic even more is because they're wearing dark sneakers and light jeans, not heeled boots or black leather pants. Still he draws back, taking comfort in the solid walls behind him. 

The person drops to his knees a couple feet away (<strike>Don't crowd panicking people</strike>), and raises their hands, palms out (<strike>Assure them you are not a threat</strike>). 

Clint focuses intently on those pale fingers, muscles bunching up in preparation to fight or run away. He doesn't look up at the face to see who it is, doesn't dare to look away from the most imminent danger to his safety. 

In the corner of his vision a green cloak flutters. 

"JARVIS, did you notify anyone?" The figure murmurs.

"I have notified Miss Romanoff, but she is currently a little caught up. She will be there in a few minutes."

Clint's eyes widen when Natasha's name is spoken, before he quickly curls up tighter. He attacked her- he hurt her- he-

How could he have hurt her?! She's his partner, the one person he can trust with his entirety!

"-nt, you are in the Avengers' Tower, in the staircase and currently on floor 94. It is 23:27 o'clock on Wednesday and..." A voice- soft and quiet, not rough and commanding- breaks through the fog and his breathing evens a little.

Not by much, but enough that he can focus on the person sitting in front of him.

Evidently, that person notices and shifts their objective towards helping Clint breathe slower now that they have his attention again. "Can you breathe in for 7 seconds, please? Hold, hold. Now please release for 5 seconds. Again."

_Inhale._

_Hold. _

_Exhale._

_Wait. _

_Inhale._

_Hold. _

_Exhale._

_Wait. _

Slowly the rest of the overwhelming panic subsides, leaving only a weary fatigue and a faint sense of humiliation which only increases when he finally looks up at the one that helped him.

It was Nagisa.

Oh god, he freaked out in front of a _child_.

Worse, he was ready to fight against him and he wouldn't even have held back in his panic.

"Are you alright now, Mr Clint?"

"What did I tell you? Just Clint is fine," the archer rasps before hauling himself back onto his feet.

Nagisa blushes and ducks his head, "Yes sir."

"Not 'sir', either," Clint gives the flustered but still worried boy a little smile.

They stand in companial, but still slightly awkward, silence for a while; the blond shifting from foot to foot, trying to decide whether to leave or stay and Nagisa wrestling with his worry and sympathy.

"Would- Would you like to talk about it, Mr- I mean, Clint?"

The hero immediately shakes his head firmly, not even waiting for him to finish his sentence. "No."

"O- Oh, alright," the student nods and fiddles with his fingers before opening his mouth again to start another- probably painful- conversation. He shuts it again when no words came out.

Clint notices his struggle and sighs. The atmosphere _is_ a little uncomfortable and he actually kind of likes the boy- he seems really nice. Not to mention he stopped to help him instead of just leaving it up to Natasha.

So, if it means helping his good samaritan a little, _he'll_ start the conversation. "You were pretty good at that," he stiffly gestures at the corner to signify his former _predicament_. "Where did you learn it?"

"My homeroom teacher thought it was important we learned about mental health and issues, so he taught us the most common and important things." Pale lips draw up into a fond smile, blue eyes gain a spark of life and joy before it's quickly doused in agony and grieve.

Clint blinks in surprise at the swift change, feeling like he'll get whiplash with the quick shifts in the emotions shown. "Nagisa? Are you alright?"

The boy closes his eyes, breathes and opens his eyes with a blank expression, "Yes. I'm just tired." He smiles politely at the blond, but his sharp gaze notices the sad tilt in the corners.

He coughs a few times, both in an attampt to get rid of the dry feeling in his throat and to give himself time to think of something that could break the rising tension between them.

"Clint?" Natasha opens the door leading to the landing they're currently on and gracefully hurries over to them.

"I'm alright, 'tasha. Nagisa here helped me," he gestures over to the teenager who quickly denies his importance.

He rolls his eyes and teases the boy in order to hide the pity and frustration he's feeling regarding the boy's low Self-esteem.

"You know how to handle flashbacks?" Natasha lays a steadying hand on his elbow, slowly drawing him closer to her. Clint is too exhausted to complain about her overprotective nature, instead he revels in the fact that she considers him worthy of such affection.

The teenager nods, "Yes, my homeroom teacher was big on mental health," he takes a deep breath and then admits quietly, "I've had a few panic attacks myself and I've calmed some of my classmates down, too."

Clint frowns in worry. He already figured Nagisa probably deals with a bit of anxiety, so while the admission he's had to deal with such terrifying moments (_plural_, not singular) is upsetting, its also not that surprising. However, finding out several classmates suffering from the same problem?

The Black Widow narrows her eyes briefly before beginning to gently prod the boy standing in front of them for amswers. "Several classmates? Was your school particularly stressful?"

The wince was almost completely hidden, but Clint really has earned his title of 'Hawkeye' for a reason, thank you very much Phil. His polite smile turns a little bitter, "Yes, I guess you can say that. Our principal followed a certain... What's the word? Thought?"

"Ideal?" Clint doesn't like how this conversation is progressing.

The bluehaired teen nods, "He followed an ideal, where 80% of people would work harder if the remain 20% are shunned and shamed. Class 3-E is used as an example for failure, it's often referred to as the 'End Class' by both teachers and students. 3-E students usually get bullied and don't receive the same material those in the other classes do, either."

Clint's blood is boiling and he feels Natasha stiffen next to him, no doubt reminded of her own ruthless training.

Her face remains passive and her voice neutral as she idly asks, "Is that so?"

Clint, on the other hand, can't contain his disgust and demands through gritted teeth, "Does the board of education know?"

Surely they can't. Surely they wouldn't allow such a thing to happen.

But, Nagisa said his class was used as an example and the way he said it...

Natasha did do some research back when they first learned of Nagisa's existence and they know that the school has existed for at least 10 years now and Clint can't imagine such a thing would stay secret for so long, especially not when the school is as popular as it is.

The bile that was previously crawling up his throat during his _episode _makes a reappearance and he has to slowly breathe in and out a few times to prevent himself from retching on his partner's red slippers.

The black t-shirt shifts as the owner shrugs, "I think so. The principal is a clever man though, so I'm sure they didn't have enough evidence to really convict him and he makes a lot of money, too."

"Despicable," the redhead hisses, green eyes stormy.

Another shrug, this time much more weary than before. "It worked. Everyone was terrified of falling behind and getting into too much trouble. We were lucky though, because our _sensei _didn't believe in that ideal and he helped us 'break the mold'- I think that's how the saying goes." Then, almost nonchalantly like it's obvious someone who actually _did their job_ and assisted the children under their care should be punished, adds, "Asano-sensei fired him after the school year, though."

Clint promises himself, that when he leaves again for surveillance, he'll pay a little visit to a certain school's principal.

* * *

Kayano paces in front of the door, the sharp smell of disinfectant stinging her nose. She's joined by a few of her classmates, mostly sitting on the tiny, uncomfortable plastic chairs lining the white hallways.

Karma leans against one such wall, dangerously still and eyes glowing with the promise of murder.

The rest of her classmates are a little too busy to be here right now because schools have started up again this week (<strike>they're already overwhelmed because it's too soon and too normal and not like before, _they want to go back to their mountain with their real teachers, not these __fakes-_</strike> ), but she knows they'll be here soon.

They all stay tense and quiet and she knows they're ready to spring into action at the drop of a hat. She also suspects Karma would be fiddling with a knife as he comes up with one diabolical plan for revenge after another if this wasn't a regular hospital and the government made sure to highlight the importance of their gag order in the meeting after their graduation ceremony.

Vindictive rage and restless energy fill her chest, growing with every second they're separated from one of their own that's hurt, injured from an attack caused by someone they didn't know even escaped.

Despite the near constant surveillance and 'guards' the Ministry of Defense prepared for each of them, Terasaka has a broken arm, various fractured and even broken ribs, a sprained wrist and multiple slash marks.

The goverment failed them, _again. _

And now they won't even let them see their classmate.

At least their teachers are allowed inside with the agents _interrogating _their friend and Kayano breathes a little easier, knowing Karasuma-sensei and Bitch-sensei would rather die than let anything more happen to them.

That doesn't make waiting any easier.

She can barely begin to imagine what Terasaka's gang feels. Though he's harsh, everyone knows their group is tightknit, even in their class-turned-family.

Yoshida and Muramatsu have a lot in common with the blond, from somewhat struggling families to the inadequate feelings of not being "smart enough", they stuck by his side.

Hazama was finally allowed to be her creepy, goth self around others and the actress knows just how precious such bonds are. The other girl may not express her thanks out loud, but it's obvious now that they've all spent so much time together.

Itona was hit the hardest by the news and he sits the closest to the doorway. The gang was the first real friends he made and they're ones that showed him what life is really worth. It's thank to them that he was ready to give up his tentacles (<strike>and Kayano knows full well how hard that decision is, those tentacles sing such alluring promises of victory, of revenge</strike>).

She pulls out her phone and opens the messaging app, clicking on the name of the one student that's out of reach (<strike>they can't protect him if he's attacked because he's too far away, they'll never be able to help him in time, _why did he leave, he's not safe, he's not here, not here, not **here**_</strike>).

She writes a text, deletes it, writes, only to erase it again.

How does she tell him?

Fuck it.

She's too highstrung and emotionally wrecked to beat around the bush or gently open that particular wound. Best to rip off the bandage.

_(To: Blue snek_

_Hey, Nagi... I don't know how much you already know, butTerasaka is in the hospital. He was attacked by Takaoka, who escaped his prison. Agents are questioning Terasaka right now, but we all know he'll come after you, so please be careful. I'm serious, Nagisa. Don't go after him on your own again, or Karma might just kill you himself.) _

She writes another message (_I'm_ _scared_), but deletes it. Her classmate will worry enough as it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *1: Gleipnir is the leash used in Norse Mythology to bind Fenrir, a giant wolf said to kill Odin during Ragnarok. I tried to find some canon Asgardian animals, but I couldn't find much of anything.


	14. Chapter Fourteen- The Similarities And Differences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the delay and shorter than usual chapter!!! I just couldn't get it to work... But its plot heavy!! So, yay?? This wasn't my original idea either, but oh well...

** _TRIGGER WARNINGS: allusions to past abuse, mentions of alcoholism_ **

* * *

* * *

* * *

Thor regards Nagisa as he walks into the Communal Kitchen carefully. 

Nagisa is a quiet boy, but not shy. He's not even all that distant, though he definitely is hiding more than a few secrets. No, it seems the young boy is merely content to sit back and observe.

See, Thor isn't stupid, nor is he blind. Though he acts cheerful and he's, admittedly, a little clumsy in regard to social clues and interactions, it is not because of immaturity.

He's over a thousand years old, afterall (*1) and he's had plenty of practice in being mature.

So, while he quite likes the teen- mainly because of the positive effect he has on Friend Bruce- he's also a little wary.

He can tell that the blunet has the heart of a Warrior- a righteous, loyal and protective people- despite his frail appearance, but there's also something darker.

Something that reminds him a little too much of (<strike>his brother</strike>) Loki.

He's a little ashamed that he'd think so of a child, but his gut insists.

As a Warrior himself, he has come to rely heavily on his instincts (<strike>sometimes he ignores them and something bad happens like Loki quietly going insane and then turning traitor, that's something he could have prevented, _why wasn't he a better brother?_</strike>) and those very same instincts point out the similarities the Midgardian and Asgardian share.

His heart, however, points out contradictory observations.

Nagisa definitely has a silver tongue, but he mainly uses it to dance around a topic and avoid giving a direct answer than to purposefully manipulate in the rare few conversations he's had with any of the adults (though he's vague with Peter too). There's nothing all too evil about it.

The two share a startling perception. They can dissect you to find out whatever weaknesses you try your best to hide, but while Loki who grew cruel shortly before the Invasion- but even before that, really- used it gleefully against you, Nagisa uses it to avoid sore spots and still healing wounds (<strike>both metaphorically _and_ literally after catching Peter with bruises and cuts from combat training</strike>).

Thor has even heard of Friend Clint's breakdown and he knows that the child helped him. It seems Loki and Nagisa share good knowledge on physiology, though again, they use it for two different reasons.

He grins at the boy, cheerfully waving his mug of coffee (<strike>he wishes it was alcohol instead even if he knows that getting drunk won't change anything, won't change the past and correct his failures</strike>) in greeting. "Good morning, Friend Nagisa!"

A small smile answeres him, "Good morning. How are you?" 

They hold the friendly conversation for several minutes, until the teenager asks a much heavier question. "Why did your brother try to invade Earth? I always had the impression he would never do something so bold..." 

Ah, the prince thinks to himself, they share an ever eager sense of curiosity as well. 

He swallowes his mouthful of strawberry poptart as he thinks of the best answer. "You're right, Loki has always preferred to stay in the shadows. He's never been one to confront someone or something directly, rather staying in the shadows. But, he was being manipulated as well, by something far greater than him: his bitter anger." (*2)

Blue eyes narrow thoughtfully as the boy chews his toast before nodding. "Emotions are tricky. They can take control before you know it." He pauses before smiling a little sheepishly, "Having friends to break you out of it helps, though." 

Theres a note of familiarity in his tone, like he's experienced that feeling of losing his control to overwhelming emotions before. And that comment about 'having friends to break him out of it' speaks of experience as well. 

Hm. 

Thor nods, twisting his lips into a mimicry of a smile. "Yes, friends or family have much influence on your mental status." He watches as Nagisa flinches, his eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion. Oh, that's right. His mother had only recently passed. 

Thor knows he's not the best at socialising, but gods, he thought he was better than that (<strike>maybe 'clumsy' is an understatement</strike>).

Nagisa's smile turns sour, now more of a grimace than grin. "Yeah.." His eyes dart around the room, looking for possible escape routes before landing on the clock. His tense shoulders sag minimally in a show of obvious relief, "Please excuse me, I need to leave for school."

Thor nods, graciously not pointing out that the student has another 10 minutes before he needs to head down to the garage. He knows when he oversteps (<strike>sometimes</strike>).

"Have a good day at school, Friend Nagisa." The god of thunder wishes the bluenet, eyes catching on the small of his back as he turns. For just a moment as he hoist up his backback, he stretches his shirt, revealing a faint outline of a lump.

A lump suspiciously shaped like a midgardian weapon.

_Hm_.

* * *

_Breathe in. _

_Hold. _

_Breathe out. _

_Wait. _

_Repeat_.

The mantra echoes in his head, eyes glazed as they look outside.

Happy wasn't all too happy that Nagisa came down early; coffee mug still full. Still the man got into the car without too much fuss, muttering under his breath and scowling but not snapping at the student.

Nagisa feels a little guilty even now, but he tries to shrug it off. This is Happy's job, right? And the sooner they got to school the sooner he can drive back, right?

He'll need to ask Tony. Nagisa really, _really_ doesn't want to be a burden.

Now he gazes at outside, absently noting the people walking on the sidewalk.

His phone was dead because he called his dad last night and fell asleep without plugging it in. He left it in his room, trusting Ritsu to keep it safe (<strike>he's noticed the suspicion, has cursed himself for being so reckless</strike>), so he doesn't have anything to do.

He fidgets, feeling his weapons dig into his skin uncomfortably. He'll need to go to the bathroom once he gets to school to fix that before it becomes obvious or painful.

He squirms a little, trying to find a more comfortable position, but only succeeding in getting Happy's attention. "What's wrong kid?" His exasperated and annoyed voice sounds from behind the wheel.

Blue ponytails sway as their owner looks up, an embarrassed look on his face. "I'm sorry, Mr Happy. I didn't realise I was frustrating you with my fussing." He bows as best as he can sitting and seat belt safely secured.

The driver sighs and rolls his eyes, "Whatever, kid. You still didn't answer me."

"Oh! It's nothing..." He notices the man's unimpressed and unconvinced expression and hurries to add, "Really! I'm just a little nervous... We have a quiz in Physics and I'm not sure if I'll pass..."

Happy raises an eyebrow, briefly looking into the mirror to watch his passager, "I heard you and Peter chatting about studying. Don't tell him I said this, but if he helped you study, you'll pass. He might be a dumbass sometimes, but he's smart the rest of the time."

**Happy is quite grumpy**, Nagisa smiles, **but he has a soft heart**.

He goes back to watching the road, absentmindedly making notes of the cars and vans in the lane next to them. One van in particular gains his attention when it cuts off a car with in a probably illegal move. 

Guess there are bad drivers everywhere.

* * *

"Dude! Did you hear?" Ned's loud voice is the first thing Nagisa hears when he finally gets to his locker. 

The boy is standing next to Peter who has his head in his locker, mostly focused on looking for a pen he dropped. Ned has his backpack on and is holding his phone, staring intently at the screen. 

"Hear what?" Nagisa asks. 

The two startle: Ned throwing his phone up with a small scream and Peter banging his head on the metal shelf. 

Nagisa winces, "Sorry! Are you okay?" 

"Yeah," Peter rubs his head, the pained grimace on his face fading as he sees the other boy's guilty expression. "Don't worry," he sends the other a finger gun in reassurance before diving back into his locker. 

Ned nods, one hand clasped to his heart while the other tightly grips his phone. He's slowly regaining his original skin color after paling from fright. In fact, he's even turning a little red as the students around them turn to stare, some even giggling or muttering to friends. 

He laughs breathlessly, "Dude, you scared me! You can be pretty quiet sometimes, huh?" He shakes himself and continues, "Anyways, I was asking if you read what MJ sent into the group chat."

"No, not yet," Peter finally emerges from his locker with a triumphant 'Aha!', pen lifted up in victory. 

"My phone was killed," the short teen offers. 

"You mean it died," Peter gently corrects, not for the first time. His friend sometimes messes up when speaking or writing in English, so Peter acts as a sort of dictionary. He doesn't mind proofreading his homework either, because Nagisa really does have a very interesting approach to certain situations. 

He'll definitely be an asset to the team even with his occasional English problems once he's transferred to AP Biology, thus filling the requirement of attending at least one AP class. 

He blushes and squeaks, "Yes, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, dude! English is hard and I've been speaking it for a lot longer than you," Ned laughs again. "So, MJ sent a text saying we'll be entering the internationals since we won the nationals this year. How cool is that?! I can't wait to go traveling!" 

He and Peter start chattering rapidly, voices barely containing their excitement. Nagisa walks with them to their classroom, content to stay quiet-- their pace is a little too fast for him anyway. 

Though he does puzzle a little when Ned teases Peter by bringing up Wakanda- a country that's infamously for rarely letting in visitors- and saying how the brunet already went there so he shouldn't act so eager.

* * *

Peter hums cheerfully and swings his backpack over his shoulders. He closes the metal door after packing away the unnecessary books and turns for the front exit. (<strike>He ignores the tingling of his Spidey Sense.</strike>)

He's driving back with Nagisa and Mr. Happy today because of his internship. He xant wait to get to the Workshop! He and Mr Stark have been experimenting with his Web Fluids and he got the idea of using it in a medical sense during biology that he wants to test today. But for now he has to contend with sitting in the car for an hour as their driver navigates the busy streets back to the Tower. (<strike>It gets stronger..</strike>)

The two students take out their homework to gain a headstart, small talk and discussions popping up every now and then.

Happy sighs, relaxing a little at the peaceful atmosphere. He glances at the kids from through the mirror, tilting it a little so it shows them instead if the black van driving behind them.

Satisfied, he presses a button that returns the angle to its original degree.

"Peter, could you help me with Nr 6? I'm unsure if..."

(<strike>His Spidey Sense _screams_.</strike>)

* * *

Ritsu is worried.

Ritsu is very worried.

(<strike>The worry crackles through her circuits, causes glitches in her programming with fear. She was not spared from the trauma even if _he_ never touched her.)</strike>

Ritsu read the message that Kayano sent Nagisa because she told her it is important he read it as soon as he can.

Unfortunately, Nagisa's phone didn't charge the night beore and the text only came in _after_ he left so Ritsu couldn't tell him, either.

It doesn't help that she can't contact her friend.

Oh, she hopes he'll get back soon <strike>(she doesn't know what she'd do if he doesn't</strike>).

* * *

_BANG! _

_ **CRASH!** _

* * *

"Man is not created equally." The boss speaks, arms held open in a grand display, "While many struggle, a select few live in luxury simply because they were born in an advantageous position, be it wealth or opportunity wise. Some people are born with extraordinary skills or talents that make their lives much easier than for those that must work for it and..."

The woman rolls her eyes. Of _course_ there are people born above the rest, the present time is ample prove for that.

Humans with powers are popping up like daisies and getting praised for said abilities. Powers that only a small handful of people possess are highly sought after and those 'heroes' have it well.

Avengers' Tower being a prime example. The Avengers live in an expensive building with access to running water, reliable electricity, available food and no worries about rent.

And for what? Fighting a bunch of aliens? What about the officers or the handful of civilians that fought back too? The Invasion didn't even last a day and it never even went outside of the city!

Society doesn't seem to care, though. No, the media praised the team for their 'exceptional performance' while conveniently forgetting to mention the destruction and casualties caused by their reckless behaviour.

Even months later news outlets won't make any critical articles (-other than the Bugle, but even she knows that they're trash-), too invested in money to care about true journalism.

It sickens her.

So does she really need to sit through another speech highlighting the many faults of today's society? It only enrages her and makes her want to punch somebody- preferably the so called 'heroes'. She's worked for the organisation for years now, but the emergence of the Avengers only strengthened her resolve

**Well**, she glances around the room, **it might be necessary to listen to this afterall. **

There are many recruits here, some of which don't seem to share the sentiments that the organisation does quite yet.

**Poor souls, having been corrupted and indoctrinated by society. **

She's looking forward to hearing from their guest as well. Rumours have spread of his past actions and schemes to save this corrupt humanity from itself and its mistake and she's eager to learn if they're true. (*3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *1: I'm going with a theory that Asgardians age much slower than humans and that they did in fact make contact with Midgard, which 'created' MCU Norse Mythology, which is a little different than ours of course
> 
> *2: I'm not sure if I want to include the whole Thanos situation so I'll just keep it vague, especially because I'm honestly more leaning against it 
> 
> *3: Please note, the woman is a minor oc and has a very extreme opinion that does not necessarily represent my own.


End file.
